Persona 4: Twin arcana
by Novice4129
Summary: What if there was an exchange student in addition to the protagonist. Can you guess where that person is from, before reading the first chapter? If not, you might be in for something slightly different.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **(Inaba. April 12th. Morning)**

It was the usual morning in the small town of Inaba. It was raining, adults had gone to work, and kids were going to school. Same old monotonous routine to most, but not for a certain high-schooler.

This high-schooler was a boy with short slightly messy light brown hair and blue eyes. If you're interested in whether he's handsome or not, one would say his looks while ok, aren't anything special. He was carrying a backpack instead of a normal schoolbag like most. This boy was a Yasogami High student, judging by his uniform. What was interesting was that he was trying to read a map of Inaba while holding onto his umbrella. After turning the map over several times the boy was finally able to tell which direction he needed to go to reach Yasogami High.

On his way towards the school he spotted a few students with the same uniform he was wearing and decided to follow them, since they were going where he was going. As he walked, he noticed more and more students going to the direction the students he was following were going, so he must be on the right road. That's right this boy didn't know where he was going, because he wasn't from Inaba. He was a new student from overseas that came to Japan as an exchange student. Sadly for the boy, Yasogami High wasn't where he wanted, but since the point of this trip was coming to Japan itself, he decided to go with it. Now all he had to do was go to the school, get himself situated and pray that aside from ending in a small town, he wouldn't have any problems.

 **(Yasogami High. April 12th. Morning)**

" _Crap, crap, crap,_ " was what the brown haired boy was thinking as soon as he entered the classroom his new teacher, named Kinshiro Morooka, led him to with a silver haired boy. Earlier when he entered the faculty office to find out which class he should enter, Morooka, whose appearance screamed 'unpleasant', glared at the boy like he was a criminal. Now he was standing in front of the entire classroom nervous while the silver haired boy was calm like nothing was wrong.

"Alright you brats! Here is our new transfer student from the capital." shouted the teacher to the class, while motioning towards the silver haired boy. "This sad sack has been thrown here from the city, like yesterdays garbage. And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any funny ideas," the infuriating teacher continued the baseless accusation he calls introduction. " Now hurry up and introduce yourself," Morooka ordered as he turned towards the silver haired boy, who hadn't batted an eye at the teachers insults. " _Doesn't this guy have any self-esteem,"_ wondered the brownheaded boy next to the transfer student.

"I'm Yu Narukami. Nice to meet you all," the silver haired boy said with a bow.

"You infidel," Morooka accused startling both boys, "You just leered at the girl by the window," the teacher yelled at Yu while pointing his finger accusingly.

Yu could only stutter "Wh-I- d-didn't.". But Morooka was having none of it, "You're on my shit list. Effective immediately." the teacher said with finality, leaving Yu dismayed.

Morooka then turned his hateful gaze at the other boy who everyone in the class noted was slightly taller than Yu. " As for him. This is our new exchange student from overseas from some uncivilzed barbaric nation that isn't worth remember-". "That's racist!" was yelled, silencing the whole class. All eyes were turned to the culprit, who happened to be standing next to Yu, covering his mouth in shock. " _Voi mätä_ ," thought the brown haired boy in his native. Since everyone was still staring in shock at the bravery that was displayed the boy decided to get the introductions over with, "Umm. My name is Viljam Nousku from Finland. Please don't kill me," The brown haired boy now named Viljam said while bowing deeply. This causes every student except Yu to laugh at the last sentence that was obviously meant for Morooka.

The said teacher finally recovered from his shock and went beet red in anger. "Congratulations. You just made it to my _rotten_ shit list," The teacher announced with hateful tone causing the other students to control themselves, lest they too end on the said list. Poor Viljam was like a deer in the headlights now, one gruesome thought after another flashing before his very eyes.

"Excuse me, can the transfer student sit here and the exchange student there," a girl in green jacket said before Morooka could say anything. Turning to the student in question, who was motioning to the empty seats next to her and behind her, Morooka was silent for a moment before finally answering "Yeah sure. Now get seated you two," shouting the last one at the new students who took the seats. Narukami next to the girl in green jacket and Viljam behind her.

Unbeknownst to everyone Viljam thought of the jacket wearing girl as a saving angel in his native. "We call him King Moron," said girl whispered to the boys she saved(Viljam's opinion). " He's the worst isn't he," the girl asked, to which Yu answered with a quiet 'yeah' and Viljam with a quick nod.

"Quiet there," yelled the King of Morons and the class was finally starting properly.

 **(Yasogami High. April 12th. Afternoon)**

After the classes were over for the day Morooka left the class without so much as a glance to Viljam, which the boy in question was grateful for. Shortly after though an announcement was heard that told the students to stay in classrooms until further notice. As he was checking his backpack to see that everything was in order so he could leave the moment they were allowed , he heard some male student babbling about Yama-something being his soulmate on some channel. "Torvi," Viljam mumbled under his breath, as if a tv could tell you who your soulmate is. Just as he was finished checking his pack he spotted the girl in green jacket talking to Yu. Viljam had been meaning to thank the girl for saving him from being mutilated, but hasn't gotten the chance yet, also he didn't want to intrude on their time. Just as he turned towards the door the said girl called him, " Hey. Nousku-kun". the boy turned towards the girl who called him. "You going home alone too? Why don't you join us," The girl said cheerfully. Viljam was about to open his mouth to reply, but the girl beat him to it, "Oh right, my name is Chie Satonaka. You know, I sit in front of you," said the girl now named Chie to the boy. Viljam could only nod in reply while still trying to come up with words to speak with. " So, wanna join us," Chie asked again while smiling friendly. " Okay," Viljam said unable to come up with anything else to say. Chie then turned towards a girl with a red cardigan, " And this is Amagi Yukiko," Chie introduced her friend. "Sorry to disturb you," Yukiko said, causing Viljam to tilt his head as the figurative question mark appeared on his head.

"Again? Yukiko why are you apologizing," Chie asked, her friend.

"Amagi? As in, the Amagi Inn," Viljam questioned the two who looked at him slightly surprised. " You know about Amagi Inn," asked Chie from the exchange student. Sure the Amagi Inn was well known in Japan, but not world wide. "Yeah that's where I am housed in during my stay," Viljam explained, causing Yukiko's eyes to widen, "Ahh you're the boy, that mother said would stay with us," Yukiko exclaimed in realization. "WHAAAT," Chie gawked.

When Viljam Nousku was accepted as an exchange student to Japan he was given a room at Amagi Inn. The room in question was small enough that the exchange program was able to cover it without any extra charges on Viljam's part. In addition the Amagis were made the host family, making Yukiko his host sister for the year. Though Viljam has only met Yukiko's mother and not Yukiko herself until today.

This was quickly explained to Chie so that she understood and stopped imitating a fish out of the water. " Good for you, Nousku-san," said Yu who had been standing behind the two girls for the whole conversation without Viljam noticing. Before Viljam could question how long Yu had been there, another announcement was heard from the speakers that allowed everyone to leave. This instantly made Chie perk up, " Alright, you three, we can talk more as we walk now come on," Chie said while moving to the doors, until a headphone wearing boy stopped her. " Umm Satonaka-san. This movie was very enjoyable and exciting. Bye," The headphone wearing boy said quickly while handing over a dvd case and made a run for it. " Stop right there! What did you do to my dvd," Chie shouted while giving the boy a kick in the crotch. Viljam winced at this.

While the headphone wearing boy was holding his crotch, Chie took a look into the case. Only to see the disc inside cracked, " WHAAT! It's completely cracked. My Trial of the Dragon," Chie cried in horror, earning a sympathetic look from Viljam.

"I think mine's cracked too. Critical hit in the nads," the headphone wearing boy whined, causing Viljam to snort lightly. Not noticing someone snorting at his misery, the headphone wearing boy quickly tried to beg Chie for mercy, " I'll get you a new one, so please have mercy until my next paycheck.". Chie only hmphed while moving out with Yukiko, Yu and Viljam.

Outside, Chie had asked Yu why he was tranferred to Inaba. The silver haired boy explained that his parents had work overseas and he had to stay in Inaba for a year. "Oh I expected something more serious," Chie said with minor disappointment. "What about you Nousku-kun, what's your story," Chie asked the boy who had been quiet all this time. " Well, in my hometown, there was an advertisement for exchange student program for Japan. I decided to apply and here I am," the foreigner said simply. Chie frowned at the too simple answer, " But why did you come to Inaba? I'm sure you wanted into a big city like Tokyo or Kyoto," Chie questioned, not satisfied with the exchange students answer. Viljam sighed before answering," Because I didn't have a say in where Iwould end up. And for the record I almost got lost here, so I don't think I could survive in a big city," Viljam said with a shrug, causing Chie to giggle a bit.

"Chie, that's rude," Yukiko scolded Chie, though Viljam wasn't sure why. " Oh come on Yukiko aren't you interested in the boy from the land of vikings," Chie asked her friend. "*pfft* Ahahhahaha," Viljam bursted into uncontrollable laughter, earning a questioning look from Chie, while Yukiko was slowly being infected by the laughter. "What? What did I say," Chie asked annoyed at the laughing boy. Surprisingly it was Yu who answered " Vikings are from Norway, Satonaka-san. Nousku is from Finland," said the silverhaired boy in amusement. This revelation caused Yukiko to giggle, while Chie was embarrassed, " Wh- I- It's not that funny," Chie shouted clearly flustered. This reaction finally allowed the laughing finnish boy to gain some semblance of control, "*kihhih* Ihana," he said between chuckles, earning a questioning look from the three. "What was that," asked Chie while looking at Viljam in suspicion. Said boy turned slightly red," Nothing," he said too quickly for Chie's liking. " If that was some kind of finnish insult, then I'll leave footprints all over your face," Chie threatened the poor guy.

There is a saying in Finland called 'käpälämäkeen' or ' to the Paw Hill' which is a *funny* way of saying 'run for your life' or 'run for it' or simply 'run away'. Take your pick out of these lines you would use to describe Viljam 'going to the Paw Hill' in fear of Chie Satonakas wrath. " GET BACK HERE," the girl in question yelled while running after the guy. " Chie, wait," shouted Yukiko who ran after her friend with Yu in tow.

 **(Inaba. April 12th. Few minutes later)**

" You better use words we can understand next time," Chie warned Viljam, who was still wheezing from the short run. Yes, short, because the brown haired boy didn't even make it down the hill from Yasogami gates, before he started coughing violently. Turns out Viljam wasn't exactly an athlete, and he had an asthma. Thankfully he had an inhalator stashed in his backpack, which he took a deep breath from. After the boys breathing became even Chie was calm enough for the Finnish boy to explain, that the word he said didn't have a japanese equivalent to his knowledge, though the closest he could think of based on the situation is cute. This revelation took Chie blush ever so slightly, but it didn't last long.

With Chie's little warning out of the way the four were now walking together. Chie and Yu were making some small talk while Yukiko and Viljam were quiet most of the time. Things went interesting when Chie asked Yu if he thought Yukiko was cute. " Yes she is," Yu said like it wasn't a big deal. This caused Yukiko to protest about it, which Viljam shook his head at," Most girls would probably kill to get your looks," said Viljam off-handedly, instantly covering his mouth in regret. Sure enough this drew all attention to him. " Ok first you call me cute then you flatter Yukiko. Are you trying something," Chie asked with newfound suspicion.

Not panicking this time Viljam was able to give an answer," Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not talking to my sisters," said the brown haired one in slight embarrassment.

"You have sisters," Yukiko asked in slight wonder.

"Yeah. Whenever they have issues with their looks I say the first thing that comes to my mind. And it works most of the time," Viljam explained

Now Yu had a questioning look, " Most of the time," he asked. " Sometimes I say something they either don't care to hear or actually argue about," Viljam said in embarrassment, " Frankly, I wish they stopped having delusions about being the ugliest things on the planet when they're anything but," the boy continued with a heavy sigh.

"You okay," Yu asked with slight worry. Viljam instantly perked up at the question, " It's fine. It's not like they can harrass me all the way here," the foreigner said, sounding more cheerful. While the girls and Yu wondered about the wording he used, they decided not to question it and kept going.

 **(Amagi Inn. April 12th. Evening)**

" _Siis sinut on majoitettu japanilaiseen majataloon? Vau. No, millaiset oltavat on,_ " said a young womans voice from a laptop in the small room where Viljam was housed in. Currently Viljam was having a video chat with his family who were curious about his wellbeing. " No, huone on pienehkö, mutta kyllä tämä minulle kelpaa," answered Viljam to the blond haired woman on the screen. The video also showed a balding blond haired man as well as a dark brown haired older woman. There was also a girl with slightly darker brown hair than VIljams that was leaning on the blond woman so she could see the screen. " _Onko isäntäväki kilttinä sinulle,_ " Asked the dark haired woman. Viljam smiled at the question," Ovat ja itse olen tietenkin yhtä kiltisti," said the boy with a cheeky grin.

Shortly after the door to his small room was opened by Yukiko," Sorry for disturbing, but mother asked me to bring you a clean futon," the girl said while carrying a bundle in her arms, earning the guests attention. " Thanks Yukiko-san," Viljam said while taking the bundle from the Amagi. " _Hei, kuka siellä on? Mitä tapahtuu,_ " was heard from the laptop earning a confused look from Yukiko. " Ahh that's my family," Viljam said while scratching the back of his head. " They're asking if I'm doing well," said the finnish boy, while questions in finnish kept pouring from the laptop. Viljam turned back to the laptop that was situated in a way that him and Yukiko couldn't be seen and walked back in front of the screen. "Sori. Host-sisko toi futonin," said the brownhaired boy to his family. The conversation went on for a moment while Yukiko was left standing by the door.

Yukiko looked for a moment at Viljam having a conversation with his family which she couldn't understand, before turning to leave. " Ahh Yukiko-san, wait. My family wants to see you," Viljam called out, stopping Yukiko from leaving. Yukiko wasn't sure what to respond. She was slightly worried about meeting her guests family. What if they don't like her. What if his parents didn't like their son associating with a foreigner. She shook her head at the thought. If VIljams parents didn't want him to associate with foreigners, he wouldn't be here. Yukikos thoughts were interrupted, when Viljam grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of the laptop screen. " Iskä, Äiskä, tässä on Yukiko Amagi. Isäntä-perheen tytär ja Tuomiopäivän Duon korvike," Viljam said with a laugh, followed by a 'HEI', from the annoyed blonde woman and brownhaired girl. " Yukiko-san, meet my family: Dad, mom, my big sister Maria and my little sister Linnea," Viljam said while motionig towards his family in the order(the balding man, dark brown haired woman, blonde young woman and brown haired girl). " Umm. Nice to meet you all," She said with a bow, earning a questioning glance from the Nousku family. Viljam quickly translated what Yukiko said and they offered their greetings, which VIljam translated to Yukiko. About an hour passed with the conversation that Viljam was translating back and forth. Viljams family seemed like nice people, although there was a moment when Viljams sisters gave the boy a stern look while saying something, that made their brother blush while crying something in protest. The Nousku family and Yukiko(who didn't understand what was being said) laughed at the boys flustered behavior. Finally Yukiko let out a long yawn, which she covered with her hand. Viljam noticed this and told his family that him and Yukiko should go to sleep. This was met by goodnight wishes, particularly from the sisters who cooed' ÖITÄ, PALLERO', and the video was cut.

" Your family seemed nice," Yukiko said, smiling to Viljam, who returned it.

" Yeah, they are," Viljam said with a forlorn look. " So...What was it your sisters were lecturing you about," Yukiko asked curiously, which made Viljam blush. " Trust me Yukiko-san: You Don't Wanna Know," Viljam said punctuating each word. "...Ok," Yukiko said confused. " Sleep well, Nousku-kun," Yukiko said before walking out. " Good night," Viljam said as Yukiko closed the door.

With that done, Viljam started to set the futon, which he had dropped before dragging Yukiko to meet his family. Viljam was looking forward to the experience of sleeping on futon. Then his mind started to wander towards the 'lecture' his sisters gave him. The sisters were basically telling their brother not to seduce Yukiko, grope her, or anything in between. " _Miksi ne ärsyttimet minua luulevat,_ " Viljam thought in his head annoyed. Though the sisters were joking, he didn't appreciate that kind of humor. He was just happy that Yukiko didn't understand finnish, otherwise she might think he's a pervert or worse. Viljam does think about girls as much as the next guy, but he doesn't hold any illusions of how a girl should act. Not to mention thanks to his mother and sisters, he knows how terrifying a womans wrath can be. Also Yukiko wasn't his type. With those dumb thoughts out of the way, Viljam had set the futon and was now drifting asleep in it, wrapped in a soft blanket.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Author's notes:**

 **Sorry I forgot to put this last time. So many authors do this so I decided: Why not me too? This is my very first fanfic I have published, so I probably will have a lot of mistakes here.**

 **I primarily follow the storyline of Persona 4, but I was planning to add some scenes from Golden. What scenes will they be? You just wait and see.**

 **Will I do pairings? Well there is one I _really_ wanna do, but we'll see if I go through with it.**

 **Disclaimer: You've probably figured this out already, but I don't own Persona 4. Only Viljam is my property.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. April 13th. After classes)**

The classes in Japan are horrible, or at least Morooka's classes. That is the conclusion Viljam came into, when the evil teacher called him an uncivilized barbarian, when the poor boy had trouble reading from a textbook. Not to mention he threatened to get detention on anyone who asked about the murder that happened yesterday. Viljam actually saw the crime scene when he was walking with Chie and the others that day. The thought of a murderer on the loose in a peaceful looking town like this was not a pleasant one. If he had walked to Amagi Inn alone that day, he probably would've been stricken by a serious case of paranoia, courtesy of his often hyperactive imagination. He didn't even tell his family about it last night, because they probably would've wanted him to return home if he did.

Regardless Viljam noticed that Yu was talking to the headphone wearing boy about Inaba. From what the Finnish boy understood, the headphone wearing boy was also from the big city like Yu. Viljam wondered what Tokyo was like, since the only thing he really knew about it was that the population there was nearly three times the size of Finland. Still he couldn't help but frown when the boy joked about grilled steak. If there was one thing the people of Finland liked to do during warm season, it was grilling. Not to mention the guy was dissing meat. That's blasphemy in Viljam's eyes. As much as Viljam wanted to give the meat hater a piece of his mind, he decided against it.

As the two's conversation shifted to the headphone wearing boy treating Yu to some of the said delicacy, Viljam wondered if he should tag along to see what it was like.

"What about me huh? No apologies," was the sentence that cut Viljam's train of thought. The Finnish boy looked to the direction of the voice and saw Chie looking at the headphone wearing boy dangerously. " My Trial of the Dragon," The green clad girl reminded the boy who broke her dvd.

" *sigh* You always come around, when food is involved," the headphone wearing boy sighed.

"That's what you get when you destroy someones treasure," was heard from Viljam earning the two guys' and one girl's attention. The headphone wearing boy frowned at Viljam taking Chie's side, while Chie had a cheeky grin. " See, Hanamura. Nousku-kun gets it," said Chie with triumph, causing the boy known as Hanamura to slump in defeat. "He has a point," Yu chimed in, earning a 'HEY' from Hanamura. While Hanamura was slowly becoming more depressed, Chie turned towards Viljam who was now smiling, " Hey Nousku-kun. Come with us, Hanamura can treat you to steak too to welcome you here," Chie offered the Finnish boy who visibly perked up at the mention of steak. "Ok," Viljam accepted very fast.

 **(Junes, April 13th. Afternoon)**

"This isn't steak," Chie complained when Yosuke(he introduced himself fully on the way) brought three servings of takoyaki, instead of steak. A sentiment shared by Viljam who looked like he was cheated out of a million euro prize. " Well, when you decided to jump on the freeloader train I had to change my plans. I can't afford bying steak for three people," Yosuke argued.

" You still didn't have to take us to your place," Chie argued back, earning a confused looks from Yu and Viljam. " Hey. It's not like this is my place or anything," Yosuke protested, making the other males more confused.

" Ohh right I haven't told you yet. My dad was assigned to manage this store six months ago and my entire family moved here," Yosuke explained the other two.

" Here's to our two newcomers," Yosuke said while handing the said newcomers their drinks. Chie also took hers, without saying much.

The four held their mugs and took a sip, except Viljam, who exclaimed, "Pohjanmaan kautta." before downing the entire thing. This action earned him curious looks. " Umm. Weren't we having a toast," Viljam asked unsure why they were staring at him, earning a blanched look from Yosuke and Chie. Yu on the other hand just poked his mug in curiosity. " He downed it all," he stated the obvious, earning a surprised look from Chie and Yosuke.

"Can I have another," Viljam asked out of nowhere.

"HELL NO," Yosuke shouted, causing the finnish boy to shrink away in his seat.

"Hey, leave him alone. He must have been very thirsty," Chie came to Viljams defence.

" A normal person shouldn't be able to down something that fast," Yosuke argued.

"They can't," Viljam asked while looking at Yosuke like _he_ was the weird one. " I was thirsty, and the weather is pretty hot for spring time," Viljam defended himself while taking off the jacket of his uniform. "And what's with Yasogami High having uniforms? I feel uncomfortable in it," the boy continued earning a questioning look from the other two students. " What kind of uniforms do you have in Finland," Yu asked the Finnish boy out of curiosity. " We don't," Viljam responded simply.

"What," Chie asked in disbelief.

"What do you mean," added Yosuke.

" It means Finnish schools don't have uniforms," Viljam clarified, earning a surprised look from Yosuke, and a jealous one from Chie. While Finnish schools in general don't have uniforms, the dresscode is usually 'casual, but presentable'. Yosuke had never heard of a school that didn't have uniforms and was wondering how strange Finland was. Chie had nothing against uniforms, but the idea of wearing whatever the students wanted made her a little jealous of Viljam. Yu merely shrugged it off as 'different country, different customs'.

The conversation turned into small talk, from which Viljam was soon left out of, not that he minded.

"Ohh. Konishi-senpai," Yosuke suddenly exclaimed and ran off towards a girl in Junes apron. Yu and Viljam turned to look at the two in curiosity.

"Who's that," Yu asked in curiosity.

"That's Saki Konishi. Her family owns a liquor store in the shopping district, but she works part time at Junes," Chie explained.

"Is she Yosukes girlfriend," Viljam asked interested.

"Haha, he wishes," Chie said with a laugh. This only made Viljam more curious.

"Is he going to ask her out now, or will he chicken," Viljam asked while eyeing the headphone wearing boy like a hawk.

" I bet you a steak skewer that he will chicken out," Chie said with a grin, causing Viljam to turn back to her, " You're on," Viljam said without thinking, which he started to regret. After all, Chie probably knew Yosuke better.

" You shouldn't make bets about a person you don't know," Yu scolded, though he was smiling. Now Viljam could only pray that this was the day Yosuke would grow a spine and ask the girl out.

" Are you the transfer students," asked the girl in question, who had walked towards them when they were distracted. "I hope you two get along with Hana-chan," Saki said smiling, which caused Viljam to look thoughtful for some reason and then reach for his phone. " I haven't seen Hana-chan talk to other guys much, but I hope you two can be his friends, since he doesn't have many," Saki continued while Viljam was tapping something on his phone. " Hana-chan's a good guy, but he can get annoying sometimes. You have to tell it right to his face when he does that," Saki finished while smiling.

" He's fine," said Yu with an enouraging look towards Yosuke.

" Don't worry, I'll tell _Hana_ -chan when he can shut his _faucet_ ," Viljam snickered, which soon turned into shameless laughing. This earned a confused look from the other four people. "Umm...What," it was Chie who asked what caused the finnish boy to laugh like a horse.

" *ehheh* Hana-*ehheh* is a word-*khhihiih* for faucet *kihhih* in finnish," Viljam managed to say between laughs. As soon as that was revealed, everyone turned to Yosuke, while gaining a mental image of the boys nose and mouth being replaced by a faucet, from which annoying words were flowing from, then Viljam coming in and shutting the said faucet. This caused everyone minus Yosuke to laugh at the joke on the boys name.

"Please stop," Yosuke begged, with embarrassed blush on his face. The laughter didn't stop until, Viljam was able to speak again " I'm sorry Yosuke-san. I just couldn't resist," the Finnish apologized still snickering at the joke he made on the spot.

"Break it up already. You're getting on my nerves," Yosuke said, increasingly annoyed.

Finally everyone calmed down, though Chie and Viljam were still letting out a snicker every once in a while. " Well, I should go back to work. Nice meeting you two," Saki said, with mirth written all over her face. Yosuke suddenly remembered something, " Ohh. Senpai, what about the thing I asked before," Yosuke asked Saki, who was slowly getting out of earshot, " Sure, I'll call you when I'm done with work," Saki answered, before getting out of hearing range.

"YES," Yosuke cheered. This caused the still snickering Viljam and Chie to finally stop, " What? What happened," Chie asked Yosuke. Yosuke answered by pulling out a movie ticket while flashing a grin. Chies face fell, while Viljams lit up.

" You asked her on a date," Viljam half asked half stated.

"You bet I did and she said yes," Yosuke said excited, causing Viljam to smile.

"Looks like, Chie-san owes me a steak skewer," Viljam said while grinning at Chie, who was pouting now.

"Whuh? You were betting on if I'd get rejected," Yosuke asked annoyed.

"No they were betting on if you would ask her out," Yu corrected earning a 'HEY', from the two conspirators.

"That doesn't make me feel better," Yosuke said more annoyed.

"Seriously, I get enough crap from Satonaka. What do you have against me," Yosuke demanded Viljam, who became very uncomfortable.

"Hey, his bet was in your favor so don't pester him," Chie said with a warning.

"Can we talk about something that doesn't involve Hanamura's love life. I think he's suffered enough," Yu suddenly asked, the two. This caused the two in question to forget their anger, " Also I think Nousku is getting scared," Yu continued. Sure enough Viljam was paralyzed in fear, while mumbling something incoherent.

"You're right. I got my date, and I'm not letting some stupid bet ruin my day," Yosuke said happily, causing Viljam to sigh in relief.

" Yeah. It's okay Nousku-kun. Big bad Hanamura isn't going to hurt you," Chie said in comforting manner to the finnish boy, while Yosuke glowered at the girl, " Please don't say it like that," Viljam pleaded, while blushing furiously.

Ignoring Viljam's plead, Chie came up with a topic. " Hey have you heard about the Midnight Channel," She asked from both newcomers.

" I think someone in the class mentioned it yesterday, but I didn't pay attention" Viljam said still nervous.

"Uhhuh. When you watch a turned off TV, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night, you will see your soulmate on the screen," Chie said like she was telling a ghost story.

"Really? How can you be interested in something so childish," Yosuke scoffed at the tale.

"Oh, you don't believe it," Chie asked annoyed.

"Duh. No," Yosuke replied.

"Well It's raining tonight. So let's all try it and you'll see," Chie said determined to prove Yosuke wrong. Chie's wording caught Yu's attention, " You mean you haven't tried it yourself," the silverhaired boy asked. " Uhh. No," Chie admitted.

" Well kiddie things aside. Do you think the incident yesterday was a murder," Yosuke said changing the subject. " What if the culprit was still lurking somewhere nearby," Yosuke said with creepy voice. Viljam visibly perked up at the speculation, " Like being behind you brandishing a bloody knife or maybe an axe. Or better yet chainsaw," Viljam said with disturbing amount of glee, causing Chie to shudder a little. " What if they first stalk you for a few days studying your habits so that they know exactly when you're alone, and then they sneak up into your house with a spare key they managed to make while wearing slippers so that they wont leave any footprints. After the deed is done they clean the crime scene and move the-," Viljam explained sounding far too excited.

" DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT," Chie cried in terror, causing Viljam to blink, interrupting his rambling. Soon he started got embarrassed instead," Sorry, I have a hyperactive imagination. Say one wrong thing and my imagination goes into overdrive," Viljam said embarrassed.

"Dude. That's messed up," Yosuke commented on the disturbing image Viljam's little monologue created.

"Should we try the Midnight Channel then," Yu said trying to change the subject, much to Chie's relief. " Yeah... Let's do that," the girl in question said, still shaken.

" Sure if I remember," Viljam said, feeling guilty for scaring Chie like that.

Unfortunately, Viljam was unable to stay awake long enough to try the Midnight Channel, causing him to sleep on his small couch for the night.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **So here is something I'd like to ask. There will be a lot of moments when Viljam will speak Finnish. Should I put translations of each sentence on author's notes or will you feel comfortable trying to figure them out?**

 **Reviews are appreciated. I don't call myself Novice for nothing XD.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Author's notes:**

 **I had some fun writing this one.**

 **It didn't turn out in a way that I'm completely satisfied on some things, but I can't change anything anymore without completely rewriting this.**

 **So I'll let the audience decide whether this is good or not.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. April 14th. After School.)**

Because of his attempt to watch the Midnight Channel, Viljam woke up late. Thankfully he was able to get into class, right as the history teacher, who he learned was named Ms. Sofue, was about to enter. The teacher was thankfully forgiving and allowed him to take his seat with only a warning. Unfortunately when Viljam left for school in a hurry he didn't take any sort of lunch with him, making his day miserable still. Icing on the cake: Viljam's running caused him to have another coughing fit, and he had to use the last of his inhalator. Meaning that next time he had a coughing fit, he would have to suffer until he could taste the blood in his throat( **AN:Been there, done that. Not pleasant** ).

Now Viljam was simply waiting for the buss that would take him to Amagi Inn, hungry and miserable. " Umm Nousku-kun," said a voice next to him. Viljam turned and saw Yukiko standing next to him with a concerned look.

"Is something wrong," Yukiko asked carefully.

"No," Viljam said, but his tone wasn't convincing.

" You don't sound like nothing is wrong," Yukiko pressed on, causing the Finnish boy to sigh.

" Fine. I tried to watch Midnight Channel last night, but I couldn't stay awake that long. Then I wake up and notice that I'm late. Next I realize in school that I had nothing to eat. And now I'm hungry, angry at today, my inhalator ran out and now I want to cry," Viljam said letting out a sniffle at the last word.

Yukiko wasn't sure what she should do. She wanted to comfort the boy but she wasn't sure how to do that. She couldn't come up with words to say that would help to cheer him up." _I wish Chie was here,_ " she thought. The green clad girl, that Yukiko called her best friend, always seemed to know what to do to cheer her up. If she was here, maybe she could do something to cheer the boy up.

" Tahdon Marian," Viljam mumbled, but loud enough for Yukiko to hear

"Excuse, me," Yukiko asked, causing Viljam to jump. "N-nothing," Viljam stuttered, but Yukiko wasn't buying it. The black haired girl then remembered that blonde young woman she saw on the video chat. Viljam's big sister. "Did Maria-san comfort you when you felt bad," Yukiko asked softly, making Viljam flinch.

"...when mom and dad weren't home," the finnish boy replied with a small voice. Yukiko wanted to ask what he meant, but then the bus that would take them to the Inn stopped in front of them. The two quickly got on the bus.

When the two took their seats, Yukiko saw that Viljam was slightly less depressed.

" Whenever I felt bad and my parents weren't home, Maria was there to hug me and tell me it's okay," Viljam suddenly said earning Yukiko's attention. " As much as I hate to admit it, she was always ready to be the big sis me and Linnea needed," Viljam continued. Yukiko remembered the brown haired girl that was Linnea, Viljam's younger sister. Though Yukiko also remembered idly wondering what the girls sizes were, since the younger sister had somewhat more bust than the eldest of the Nousku siblings. The Amagi heiress quickly shook that thought out of her, she was supposed to listen to Viljam. " I wish I was more like them," Viljam said like he was ashamed of something. Yukiko was slightly curious as to why Viljam would sound ashamed, but wasn't able to ask before the boy let out a slight laugh

"*pfft. Listen to me rambling about useless things," Viljam chuckled, finally seeming a little happier. This made Yukiko smile somewhat at the boy being now perfectly fine. That thought was interrupted by a loud growl.

"Umm. I still need to eat," Viljam said embarrassed, causing Yukiko to laugh.

 **(Amagi Inn. April 14th. Evening)**

Yukiko was somewhat happy about Viljam helping around the Inn.

After the two had returned to Amagi Inn, Yukiko had found Viljam something to eat, after the boy received an earful about forgetting to pack himself lunch from Yukiko's mother. After eating his fill Viljam asked if he could help around the Inn. Both Yukiko and the staff said that their guest shouldn't have to work. Only for the Finnish boy to argue that since the Amagis were the host family now, he should do some of the chores. With that, Viljam was put on light duties, mostly scurrying around in the worker kimono assisting with small chores here and there. Though he wasn't let anywhere near the service duties since the staff was afraid he would do something to embarrass himself. And the Inn.

While Viljams assistance was pretty insignificant in itself, but with some of the more experienced staff not having to do the smallest of tasks, they were able to focus on more demanding tasks. So all in all, having the Finnish boy around was proving invaluable. Thankfully Viljam warned them that if he does something that might cause him to lose his breath, it might trigger an asthma attack. Same with strongly smelling perfumes and such. Therefore he was put on duties where he doesn't have to exert his lungs such as by running, or being close to anything with strong smell.

Now Viljam was preparing for bed, though he was talking with his family about the events of today. His parents were slightly worried that his inhalator had run out, but they told him that they sent a new one with the prescripted medicine that would ease his life. Viljam couldn't wait for the medicine to arrive. He wasn't sure if the prescripted medicine was available in Japan, much less Inaba. He needed to check that, but one problem: He needed the prescription from a doctor and the boy was nervous around doctors. Oh well. If he found an inhalator at least, he could wait for the medicine to arrive.

( Outside Yasogami High. April 15th. Morning)

Wiser from yesterday morning, Viljam had put on alarm this time. So he had plenty of time to check his backpack for all the nessecities. Then he went to the kitchens to see if he could get himself something to eat for the day. Only to notice two prepared boxed lunches, with notes on them. One was for Yukiko, and the other was for Viljam. The note on Viljams box said: 'Thank you for yesterdays assistance'. Viljam was happy to put his lunch box into his pack. Lastly he checked that he had his black umbrella, before going out.

Now Viljam was walking with Yukiko and Chie, who had joined the two on the way, towards the school gates. Chie seemed a little strange though.

"Is something wrong, Chie," Yukiko asked concerned for her friend. Chie who looked like she had gone through hell, turned to the red clad girl. " I went through hell yesterday," was the green clad girls answer. This peaked Viljam's interest, " What happened," asked the finnish boy. "You wouldn't believe me, if I told you," Chie said deflated. Viljam was about to retort, but then a voice interrupted him, " You're Yukiko right," said a somewhat creepy voice. Viljam and the girls turned towards one of the gate columns where the voice came from. There in the rain stood a boy with beady soulless looking eyes. " I've waited all morning for you, Yukiko" the beady eyed boy said, while having a disturbing smile, putting the three Yasogami students on guard. "W-who are you," Yukiko stuttered, while positioning herself slightly behind Chie.

" Let's hang out together and have some fun," the creepy boy said while reaching for Yukiko, only to be blocked by Viljam," Didn't your mother teach you how to talk to a girl," Viljam said calmly, though inside he was terrified.

" Yeah, you're scaring her," Chie added in a hard tone, while stepping in next to Viljam so that Yukiko was now behind both of them.

"Let's go already Yukiko, come with me," the creep said ignoring the green clad girl and the taller boy in front of his target.

Several students who walked past the spectacle, we're making comments about the guy being a loser and the Amagi Challenge, but the objects of the attention weren't hearing it.

"What part of 'You're scaring her' doesn't make sense to you," Viljam said with an edge to his voice now. This sentence finally made the creepy boy look at Viljam, " YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT," the creep barked at Viljam, who actually backed off in fright. This action caused the creepy boy to laugh, " That's right back off, like a coward. A puny little coward that needs girls to protec-," The rest of the boys sneer was cut off by Viljam's fist in the face, followed by a kick to the crotch. This action startled both Yukiko and Chie, but what scared them more was the silent rage they could see in his blue, now icy looking eyes, "You were saying, sontaläjä.". The girls didn't need a translation to know that the last word was an insult to the creepy boy on the ground.

The boy slowly stood up still nursing his crotch, but instead of replying to Viljam, he turned to Yukiko again. " Are you coming or not," the boy said annoyed at the red clad girl who was now completely hiding behind Chie. " No," Yukiko said in fear. This made the boy to make a hateful face. "FINE," the beady eyed creep yelled before running off surprisingly fast, considering the damage Viljam caused.

Speaking of the Finnish boy, he was now breathing heavily. Before Chie or Yukiko could question him, they heard Yosuke from behind. " Hey, what happened," the headphone wearing boy called while jogging towards them with Yu. Momentarily forgetting Viljam the girls turned towards the two boys.

"Some creep approached Yukiko, but Nousku-kun drove him away," Chie said while motioning towards Viljam, who was now looking at his fist, that he used to punch the creep with a worried look. " Are you okay Nousku-kun," Yukiko asked the brown haired boy in worry. Only now did Viljam turn his gaze to others with a start. "Umm...sorry," Viljam said with a small voice. The other four had question marks above their heads.

"Why are you sorry," Yu asked the finnish boy.

"Because I snapped like that," VIljam answered weakly.

" Come on you defended Yukiko, that's actually brave," Chie said encouragingly.

" No. He said...nevermind," Viljam said while shaking his head and walked away.

This action left the other four confused. " What's eating him," Yosuke asked the two girls. Chie turned towards the boys, but could only shrug, not knowing what could possibly bother him. Yukiko on the other hand had a thoughtful look on her face. " Maybe the boy did something that hit a nerve with Nousku," Yu supplied helpfully.

" Well the creep did say something about Nousku-kun needing girls to protect," Chie said. As the other three had their conversation, Yukiko remembered something Viljam told her. " _I wish I was more like them_ ," were the words Viljam said yesterday. She almost voiced this, but she was able to stop herself. What right did Yukiko have to reveal something so personal.

"Seriously, that guy just came and called Yukiko by her first name," Chie said with a shudder, gaining Yukikos attention. " But what did that person want from me," Yukiko wondered aloud earning a surprised look from the other three. " What do you mean, what he wanted? He obviously wanted a date," Chie said in amazement. " Oh," was all Yukiko said.

 **(Yasogami High. April 15th. morning)**

"That was pretty cruel Amagi-san," Yosuke said in the classroom where the five of them, including Viljam were now talking. Though Viljam was just slumped over his desk while looking depressed. " You did the same to me last year," Yosuke said, earning slightly amused look from Yu.

"I don't remember that," said Yukiko, after trying to recall the event.

" So wanna go out later," Yosuke asked hopefully.

"No," Yukiko answered emotionlessly, making Yosuke's ego visibly deflate.

Though this didn't last long, " That's fine. My heart already belongs to another," Yosuke said with pride.

" Konishi-senpai, right," Yu stated smiling.

"Yep," Yosuke said, but then he checked his phone," Though she hasn't responded to my calls or texts since yesterday," Yosuke said as he checked his mailbox. Soon sirens were blaring outside, gaining every students attention. Even Viljam lifted his head.

" Another Incident," Yu wondered aloud

 **(Yasogami High Assembly Hall. April 15th. Some time later)**

Shortly after the sirens passed the students were called for an assembly. The students were packed in the hall divided by the year they were in. Unfortunately Yukiko was called back to the Inn for help. Viljam almost went with her, but she said that he shouldn't skip school. And before he could retort, Yukiko said that with her grades she can afford to skip a day or two.

So here Viljam was in the assembly hall with Yu, Chie and Yosuke. Yosuke of course inquired where Yukiko went.

"She was called back to the Inn," Chie informed the headphone wearing boy.

"The Inn must be really busy," Yu half asked half stated.

"I guess my help didn't make much difference," Viljam said, giving the other three exclamation marks. " You've helped at the Inn," Chie asked in disbelief. Viljam just looked at Chie like she just said something weird, " Well, Yukiko-san seemed depressed and she helped me get over near breakdown. Also I may be a guest, but the Amagis are my host family so I felt I should do something to ease her burden," Viljam explained, which earned him a grateful smile from Chie.

" You're a good person," Yu told Viljam who, shook his head. " No. I'm not," Viljam said dismissively.

" Alright quiet down you brats," yelled Morooka from the stage, " The Principal will now speak," the evil teacher said and stepped back. The principal in question seemed like a stereotypical, old professor, which is a first time for Viljam seeing one.

" I regret to inform you, that one of our students, Saki Konishi has passed away," the principal said, shocking everyone.

"The police are still investigating the details, but so far it has been confirmed that there was no bullying involved," the principal continued.

The rest of the speech was a blur for Viljam, who was looking at Yosuke with worry. The headphone wearing boy looked dead to the world. Viljam couldn't comprehend what was going on through the headphone wearing boys head. Hopefully the guy won't do anything stupid. Viljam wished he could say something to the boy, but he had no idea what he should do in a situation like this. Viljam ultimately felt that he could do nothing but give Yosuke some space for the rest of the day.

 **(Yasogami High. April 16th. Morning)**

Yosuke and Yu were in class talking about what the two saw on Midnight Channel last night. Yesterday the two had figured out that the Midnight Channel doesn't show your soulmate, but the next person to die. They heard someone rambling about Mayumi Yamano being on the Channel and she was found dead later. After that Saki Konishi, who found Yamano's body, was shown on the Midnight Channel two nights ago and again the night before she was found dead. Last night the two had watched Midnight Channel again and saw a girl in a kimono. The two were wondering who the girl in kimono could be. Yu also pointed out that he saw very faintly another person behind the girl. This conversation was soon interrupted by Chie rushing to the two of them.

" Is Yukiko here yet," Chie asked the two boys worriedly.

" Amagi? No I haven't seen her today," Yosuke said.

" No. What should I do," Chie said worried.

"What's wrong," Yu asked the green clad girl, earning her attention. " Last night on the Midnight Channel. That was Yukiko," Chie said. This brought exclamation marks on the boys heads. " That Kimono looked like the one she wears at the Inn, and she wore it during the interview too," The green clad girl said

At the mention of the interview that was shown yesterday evening, Yosuke chuckled. Because during the interview, Viljam opened the doors behind Yukiko, accidentally walking in on the camera view. Not only that, but the boy was dressed in loose black shirt and baggy sweat pants, meaning he wasn't exactly presentable. Icing on the cake for Yosuke, Viljam froze for a few moments in front of the cameras, before running back inside letting out a finnish expletive. This made the interviewers go ballistic about the mysterious boyfriend(media's words).

" Yeah the interview Nousku crashed," Yosuke couldn't help chuckling at the boy who made a joke on his name. But this was not the time to make a joke as far as Chie was concerned

" This isn't funny! I got worried, so I emailed her last night and she hasn't responded," Chie raised her voice. " I even called her earlier in the evening and she said she would be at school today. I...I," Chie finished nearing an emotional breakdown.

" Calm down, Satonaka-san. Have you tried calling her today," said Yu, while calming Chie.

"Yes but it goes straight to voicemail," Chie said still worried, but less likely to get hysterical.

" Then Amagi might already be-" "DON'T SAY IT," Chie interrupted Yosuke. This outburst caused the entire class to stare at them.

"What's wrong," asked Viljam who had arrived just as Chie let out her outburst.

" Nousku, have you seen Amagi-san today," Yu asked the finnish, boy who took a moment to process the question.

"Ahh, Yukiko-san. Yes she told me to tell Chie that she won't be coming today. The Inn has become a mad house," Viljam answered, causing Chie to sigh in relief.

" What do you mean," Yosuke asked in curiosity. "Well as I was leaving, I heard a lot of...interesting words flying around from the dining areas direction," Viljam said nervously at the 'interesting' part. " Please don't ask what," Viljam pleaded before Yosuke could question further. " So...What happened to make Chie-san yell like that," Viljam asked the three.

"Hanamura said that the killer had gotten Yukiko, when Satonaka-san wondered where she was," Yu said naturally. Yosuke was about to protest, but was cut off by Chie's elbow. " Yes. This insensitive jerk couldn't keep his mouth shut," Chie agreed while fake frowning at Yosuke. Viljam accepted the explanation, while taking his seat.

" By the way, did you just arriving now have something to do with the interview you crashed," Yosuke asked the Finnish boy, while snickering.

" First: Class hasn't started, so I'm not late," Viljam said annoyed, " Second: Nobody told me that Saturdays are school days. I mean COME ON, where's the logic in that," Viljam continued nearly shouting the last part, " Third: SHUT THE DAMN FAUCET, HANA," Viljam yelled, earning giggling from Chie and chuckling from Yu, while Yosuke grumbled in annoyance, and the rest of the class thought the four had gone crazy.

 **(Junes. April 16th. After School)**

Yu, Yosuke and Chie had secretly hatched a plan to meet Teddie. The day after the three had watched the Midnight Channel the first time, Yu had told them that he was sucked inside the TV, of course neither Yosuke or Chie believed him. What made the story sound 'realistic' was the fact that Yu's TV was too small for him to go all the way in. However the three did go to Junes, because Chie mentioned that her folks wanted to buy a new TV. In Junes Yu tried again sticking his hand in again and it went through. In their panic Chie and Yosuke bumped into him and all three went all the way inside. Inside the TV was actually it's own world. That's where they met Teddie, a walking blue and red bear costume.

The plan was nearly botched, when Viljam came with them to Junes to see if they had any inhalators. Thankfully Yosuke was able to point him towards the medicines section. Now that they got rid of the asthmatic boy, the group was able to move onto electronics section

" I forgot there was a sale in the electronics department," Yosuke lamented as the group of three were standing in front of the various tvs on sale. Then a light bulb went off in his head, "I got it, Satonaka and I will make a wall," Yosuke explained. " A wall," Chie questioned.

" Narukami sticks his hand into the tv, while you and I block him from sight," Yosuke continued, gaining a look of realisation from Chie. " Ahh that way Narukami-kun can call Teddie over," Chie finished Yosukes idea.

Putting the idea into use, Yosuke and Chie huddled close to Yu, so that people wouldn't see what he was doing, while Yu stuck his hand into the tv in hopes of Teddie being nearby. Almost immediately, Yu pulled his hand back in recoil.

"What's wrong," Yosuke asked a little too loudly.

"Shh. Not so loud moron," Chie scolded.

"Something bit me," Yu said while nursing his hand.

"Woah and it left teeth marks too. Are you okay," Chie asked after seeing the bite mark.

" I think I'm gonna cry," Yu said while holding back tears.

" Ohh come on don't cry," Chie tried to comfort the silver haired boy.

" Sheesh that stupid bear, must've done it. Hey you we know you're in there," Chie directed the last sentence to the tv. Soon enough they heard a playful voice from the turned off tv, "Ooh ooh, is this a game," said the cheerful voice of Teddie from the tv.

" No, this isn't a game. Can you sense anyone in there right now," Yosuke said annoyed.

"Who's anyone? I'm by my bear-some like always," Teddie said confused. " This land feels so bear-ren," the bear said with a chuckle. Chie wasn't in the mood for jokes. " Shut it! So there's no one inside? Are you sure," Chie asked slightly impatient.

" I'm not lying, my nose is as good as always," Teddie said making Chie frown.

" Well. You keep an eye out in there. We will come check later ok," Yu said, no longer on the verge of tears. With that, Teddie left the earshot, while Chie was still wondering. " I think I'll go warn Yukiko anyway, " Chie said after a moment.

" Of what," Viljam asked causing the three to jump and turn around. There was Viljam holding a small Junes bag with a confused look.

" When did you get here," Yosuke asked shaken. Viljam looked at the headphone wearing boy like he grew another head. "Just now. So what was Chie-san going to warn Yukiko-san about," Viljam asked while eyeing the green clad girl. Before Chie could say anything Yu made up an explanation," Satonaka-san saw the boy who tried to harrass Amagi-san waiting at the school gates this morning," Yu said with surprising confidence. A light bulb went off in Viljam's head, "So the guy's stalking her? But why didn't I see him there," Viljam asked not convinced that the guy simply gave up by the time he arrived at the gates. Thankfully Chie had an answer for that, " Because I kicked his ass. Hwtaa," Chie said and took a kung fu stance.

Viljam blinked once, twice and started laughing, "I'm sorry, but I can't decide whether you're adorable or awesome," Viljam said chuckling. Chie was frozen at the two complements. Yosuke whistled at the spectacle, " Stop the press. Chie Satonaka just gained a potential boyfriend" Yosuke said with grandeur. Both Chie and Viljam froze at this action. After few seconds of silence, the two finally said the one thing that came to mind," SHUT THE FAUCET, HANA," Chie and Viljam yelled in unison, causing Yu to cover his mouth with his uninjured hand desperately holding his laughter in. The supposed couple looked at one another in embarrassment, while Yosuke was more amused at them yelling in unison than annoyed that it was the joke Viljam made of his name.

Viljam soon ran off desperate to get away from this situation, with Chie running after him telling him to wait.

 **(Dojima house, April 16th, Evening)**

Yu Narukami, transfer student from Tokyo that is now living with his uncle and cousin, was sitting on his couch in his room watching the black screen of the TV in his room. The clock was now close to midnight, it was raining and the Midnight Channel would soon be aired. Yu was still wondering what the shadow behind the girl in kimono was. More importantly, if the girl in kimono was indeed Yukiko then why was she aired on the channel even though she wasn't thrown inside the tv. As these questions swirled in his mind, the tv turned on, showing a castle gate. Soon Yukiko was seen on the screen wearing a pink princess dress complete with a tiara," Good evening," she said cheerfully, causing Yu's eyes to widen. " Tonight princess Yukiko is going to score herself a hot stud," Yukiko(?) announced,"Welcome to Not a Dream, Not a Hoax. Princess Yukiko's Hunt For Her Prince Charming," Yukiko announced with the title appearing on the screen. " And I came prepared. I got my lacy unmentionables on stacked from top to bottom," Yukiko continued while the camera, zoomed in on...strategic angles. Yu was completely bewildered at the sight. " I'm going to catch a whole harem of the very best. Well, here I go," Yukiko finished and ran towards the castle.

Yu thought that was the end of the show, but then the camera zoomed towards one of the walls adorning the path to the gate. From behind the wall came Viljam, who looked around as if hiding from someone. He was wearing an open leather jacket, with a white shirt underneath. He was also wearing dark blue jeans with brown shoes. The finnish boy turned towards the screen smirking devilishly. " Toivot- *krrrhm* I hope you enjoy watching that insatiable bitch getting herself in trouble. I know I will have a front row seat, when her stud-hunt ends in tears," Viljam said with a cruel laugh, creeping Yu out for some reason, "Well. Let's get this show on the road. Heipparallaa~," Viljam said in a sing song voice while sneaking into the castle. Then the screen went black.

Yu didn't have time to question what was happening, before his phone rang. Yu and Yosuke had traded phone numbers earlier, promising to call each other after watching the show.

Yu answered the phone, " You see that? What the hell was that show and why is Nousku in it too," Yosuke exclaimed. Yu had no answer for that, but then he remembered the night before," The shadow. That shadow behind Yukiko must've been Nousku," Yu informed Yosuke.

" But why was he shown only as a shadow," Yosuke asked not understanding anything.

" Calm down, Yosuke," Yu said trying to calm the boy down, and succeeding.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's meet up at Junes in the morning and figure this out," Yosuke said, now calm. Yu gave an affirmative hum, before hanging up. Now that they had a plan, Yu decided to go to bed.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **Surprise. I was wondering how to wrap Viljam into the cases. Then it hit me, I had half accidentally made the set up for it.**

 **Look forward to interesting things that will happen in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Author's notes:**

 **I am so happy to receive positive feedback from my first two reviewers.**

 **Sira: You have no idea how happy your comment made me. If I get more praises like that I might actually tighten my schedule...NAhh I still need to work and what not. Also I read through what I wrote several times, until I'm remotely satisfied. I need to have some standards after all.**

 **Lacie968: I did consider giving the personas their own personalities. However not only do I feel like I would be copying Kisdota, who is one of my primary influences in trying fanfiction, but I already have enough to work with just with Viljam's presence. Although I have considered making a series of one shots where the personas do have personalities. There is a certain joke I would love to use, but I can do it with this fic if I feel like it. Lastly, it's fun that at least someone is trying to guess Viljam's Arcana, however both guesses are wrong XD. Viljam's character is loosely based on myself, and I can't see my arcana as something as awesome as the fool. I actually took a test to see which arcana would represent me to give me a guide line. What is that arcana? You just wait and see.**

* * *

 **(Junes Food Court. April 17th. Morning)**

At Junes food court, Yu was waiting for Yosuke, while folding a paper to pass the time. The silver haired boy sighed a little.

Earlier at Dojima household, he was about to leave when he noticed his eight year old cousin, Nanako, sitting alone in front of the tv. The little girl's dad had to leave for work early and said he wouldn't be back before evening. Yu wasn't sure if he could leave Nanako alone at home, but the little girl told him she could take care of the house. The thing that worried Yu was that Nanako was treating the situation like it was perfectly normal.

Yu's thoughts were interrupted by Yosuke's arrival. "Narukami. Look what I found in my closet," Yosuke said excited and brought out a katana and a nata, which he were hiding behind his back.

" We got our personas, but I don't think a golf club is exactly a reliable weapon," Yosuke explained to Yu in enthusiasm. When Yu entered the tv world second time with Yosuke, he used a golf club as his weapon, alongside his persona Izanagi. For some reason, when Yu swung the club, it dealt far more damage than he thought it would. The only explanation he could come up with on the spot was that his persona must've had some kind of passive reinforcement effect on the weapon.

Still Yosuke had a point, the golf club isn't meant to be a weapon.

" I want the katana," Yu said before Yosuke said anything else, causing the Junes boy to smirk.

" You got good taste, partner. These are Junes exclusive. The blades are fake though," Yosuke said with a smirk, but then a light bulb went off in his head. "Wait what if _I_ wielded both. Like this...Or this," Yosuke said while doing what he thought were cool stances.

Yu shook his head at the headphone wearing boy's antics. Then his eyes widened in alarm, when he noticed a police officer approaching them.

"Yosuke-" Yu was about to say, but the officer had already reached them.

"Hey kid. Put the weapons down and hands where I can see them," The officer said to Yosuke. The head phone wearing boy hid the weapons behind his back, for whatever good it did.

" W-wait. T-this isn't what it looks like. We're just normal students who like weapons and...That doesn't sound right." Yosuke stuttered trying to explain himself. The officer won't have any of it, " We'll listen to your story at the station. Weapons down and hands where I can see them. Now," the officer said a little harsher this time.

" B-but... This isn't," Yosuke stuttered again waving his hands frantically. Sadly those hands were still holding the weapons.

"That's it! You're under arrest for resisting an officer," the officer shouted and as if on cue multiple policemen came from behind and subdued the two boys.

 **(Inaba Police station. April 17th. Daytime)**

In the Inaba police station, Yosuke and Yu were being scolded by detective Ryotaro Dojima, Yu's uncle. " I thought you would be smart enough not to pull a stunt like this," Dojima scolded Yu, who hanged his head in shame. The silver haired boy knew better than to argue with a police officer, especially if the said officer had the authority to ground him.

" I'm sorry," Yu said, while subtly giving a pointed stare at Yosuke.

" We got men stationed everywhere. If I wasn't here, this would've ended up on your permanent record," The hardboiled detective of Inaba sighed. " You two can go now. But this better not happen again," Dojima warned the boys, though the last sentence was directed at Yu.

" It won't," Yosuke assured the detective. With that Dojima walked off.

As the two boys walked towards the lobby Yu was still slightly miffed by Yosuke getting them arrested.

" I said I'm sorry ok," Yosuke apologized the silver haired boy.

"Alright, but you better not come up with anymore ideas that will get us in trouble," Yu said, not bothering to argue anymore.

"There you are," shouted Chie at the two boys, who just made it to the lobby. "I've been looking everywhere for you," the green clad girl shouted.

"Sorry, we had a little misunderstanding," Yosuke said embarrassed.

" Nevermind that! Yukiko and Nousku-kun have disappeared," Chie shouted, startling the other two.

"I tried calling Yukiko's cell, but she didn't pick up. So I ran into her house, but no one has seen her or Nousku-kun since last night," Chie explained distressed.

"Are you friends of Yukiko Amagi," a young detective, Yu remembered was named Adachi, asked as he approached the three teens. Yu nodded in affirmative." Well. Her parents called us and told us about their daughter and the exchange student disappearing last night," Adachi explained the situation. "Say, did Yukiko-san seem troubled, before disappearing," Adachi asked as he took out a small notebook.

"Troubled? Not that we've noticed. Why," Yosuke answered the young detective.

" Well you see, Mayumi Yamano was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder," Adachi said while flipping through pages of his notebook. "It seems she had some harsh words about the staff at the Inn," the detective continued. "Then there's Viljam Nousku. At first we thought that he and Yukiko-san ran away together, but his wallet and phone were found in his room," Adachi diverted towards Viljam, causing Chie to frown at the idea of the boy taking her best friend away. Then the detective looked around to see if anyone was listening. " Returning to the topic of Yukiko-san. There has been theories about her laying low for some reason and Viljam-san somehow finding out-," Adachi said quietly to the three, but was interrupted by Chie, " What the hell," the girl yelled in anger.

" Do you think Yukiko's the killer," Chie lashed at the detective.

Adachi quickly lifted his hands in defence," N-no that's just a theory someone-".

"Like hell it is," Chie yelled, while moving to strangle Adachi. Yu and Yosuke grabbed the girl before she assaulted the officer. Chie tried to shake the boys off, while they were trying to calm her down and Adachi was stuttering in fear.

"What in the world is going on here," Dojima yelled as he and several officers approached the commotion. At the sight of the policemen Chie finally calmed down. " Let's go," Yu said sympathetically. With a quiet nod Chie moved outside with Yu and Yosuke not far behind.

Outside the station Chie turned towards the two boys. She was still angry at Adachi for implying that Yukiko had something to do with Yamano's death or Viljam's disappearance, but she understood that the two needed to be saved.

" I'm coming with you," Chie said determined. The boys were slightly taken aback by this. " I'm going to save Yukiko no matter what," Chie said with finality. The boys ignored the fact that she didn't mention Viljam, since they had better things to do.

" Alright, but you have to stay close to us," Yu said, earning a sigh from Yosuke.

"Sure, but they confiscated our weapons. What are we gonna do," the headphone wearing boy lamented on the loss of their weapons. Chie perked up at this.

" Weapons? I know just the place," the self taught martial artist said.

 **(Daidara Metal Works. April 17th. several minutes later)**

" Here we are," Chie announced the two guys. The three were now in a shop that had many weapons and armor on display.

" What kind of shop is this," Yosuke asked while looking around.

"Looks to be metal works obviously," Yu said while eyeing some of the weapons on display.

" Yeah they sell all sorts of metal crap, like katanas and stuff," Chie confirmed.

"Doesn't that seem weird and why would you know about a place like this," Yosuke asked sceptically. Then a light bulb went off in his head, "Ohh, of course. You watched too many kung-fu movies and...,".

"It's not like that. I just overheard some guys in our class talking about it," Chie interrupted annoyed.

Yosuke wisely shut up, but decided to voice a concern of his, " I'm still not sure if you should come with us, Satonaka. I mean I know how you feel, but-,"

"No! You don't," Chie interrupted Yosuke. " You don't know shit how I feel! Yukiko might die and I'm going to save her and nothing will stop me," Chie said while giving a fierce glare.

"Alright, but like I said before: Stay close to us," Yu said while putting his hand on her shoulder. " Also you shouldn't forget Nousku," Yu added with a scolding tone. Now Chie felt bad for forgetting that Yukiko wasn't the only one in danger.

"Yeah, Satonaka. You shouldn't forget your boyfriend," Yosuke teased. Chie just about had it with Yosukes comments.

" He complimented me ONE TIME! That doesn't mean anything," Chie shouted while blushing. Yu suddenly smiled at a certain memory, " Actually that was the second time," the silver haired boy said, while holding back a snicker. Now Yosuke had a devious grin.

"Oohh. Someone flirted with Satonaka twice. We finally found someone crazy enough to like her," Yosuke said wolf whistling. Unfortunately for the Junes boy, this prompted Chie to kick his weak spot for massive damage. While Yosuke was recovering from the critical hit in the nads, Chie and Yu browsed through equipment.

 **(TV World. April 17th. 1 hour later)**

After picking up their equipment, the three needed to find a way to smuggle them into Junes without getting arrested again. Chie figured that they could conceal them under their clothes, but unfortunately Yu's weapon was too big for that. The silver haired boy thankfully got the idea of disguising his katana as a parasol. Yosuke pointed out that there were surprisingly many umbrellas with a katana hilts on sale in Junes. With that they figured a parasol with a katana hilt wouldn't stand out too much.

Did it work? Yes and no. Yes, because he didn't get arrested. No because people were snickering when they thought Yu couldn't hear them. A guy with a parasol was pretty funny sight in peoples eyes. Luckily they were still able to get into the TV without anyone noticing

Now Yu and the others were in the TV world in front of the castle that was shown on Midnight Channel.

"Teddie are you sure Amagi and Nousku are in here," Yosuke asked the walking red and blue bear costume they met the first time the three accidentally stumbled inside the tv.

The said costume sniffed the air once and spoke," Yes I can smell them beary clearly.".

As soon as Chie heard this she ran off into the castle.

"Hey! Don't go alone," Yosuke yelled after the girl, but she already entered. "Sheesh. That idiot's going to get herself killed," Yosuke complained. That and Chie didn't have glasses Yu and Yosuke were wearing. The tv world was covered in a thick fog, but with the glasses Teddie gave the two, when they came in the tv world a second time, they were able to see like the fog didn't exist. Yu's glasses had silver frames, while Yosuke's had orange frames.

"Let's make sure she doesn't. Now get moving," Yu ordered, before running after Chie with Yosuke and Teddie right behind him.

 **(Yukikos Castle. April 17th)**

"Izanagi!" Yu shouted. A black coat wearing warrior with silver mask and yellow eyes cut down another shadow with it's sword. As soon as the shadow that was shaped like a sphere with a mouth dissolved, several more took its place. One of them was quickly cut down by Yu's katana, while another was stabbed by Yosuke's kunais.

"My turn. GO JIRAIYA," Yosuke shouted as he summoned his persona. Jiraiya looked like a white frog ninja with a long red scarf and had a shuriken attached to each palm. Jiraiya threw his two shurikens. Both of them hit their targets.

"Damn how far did she go," Yosuke complained, since they haven't seen Chie since they got into the castle. "You'd think that with this many shadows, we would've caught up to her by now," the headphone wearing boy continued as he stabbed a shadow.

"Didn't Yosuke listen! Shadows don't attack normal people, so they didn't bother Chie-chan," Teddie, who was a safe distance away, chided at Yosukes lack of memory. True when the two entered this world a second time, Teddie had explained that shadows don't attack anything but persona users.

"Shut up stupid bear," Yosuke shouted annoyed.

"YOSUKE," Yu yelled just before he called Izanagi to use zio on an enemy that tried to take advantage of Yosuke's distraction.

"Less bickering, more action," Yu scolded while motioning towards the last door they haven't checked in this floor.

"Yosuke still has much to learn," Teddie snickered as the three were about to open the door, but Yosuke decided to ignore him.

Behind the door was a circular room, where Chie was standing arguing with herself. No not as in arguing with thin air, but as in there was another Chie in the room. This Chie had yellow eyes and a mocking grin on her face.

" Oh shit, were too late," Yosuke exclaimed.

Yu was beating himself in his head. Of course Chie's shadow would come out, but he had foolishly thought that Chie had nothing to hide. "We need to stop Chie from saying anything now," Yu said and with that the three jogged towards Chie.

Chie turned around to see the guys coming. " No don't come near me. Don't look at me," she shouted in distress.

"Calm down Satonaka," Yosuke tried to calm her down. "This isn't me," Chie cried in panic.

"Satonaka-san, you have to calm down. Listen to us," Yu said in an attempt to calm her down.

" ***Ahhahhahaa* That's right I'm the one who can't do anything on my own** ," Shadow Chie said, mockingly in a distorted version of Chie's voice. " **I can't win as a girl let alone as a person, but Yukiko. She depends on me** ," The shadow snickered, " **That's why she's my friend. I'll never loosen my grip on her. She's too valuable to me** ," the Shadow said sinisterly.

"No! That's not how I think of her," The real Chie shouted.

" **Are you just going to turn your back on me again** ," Shadow Chie asked with a chuckle. " **But this time. I will be the one left standing. But that's okay right? I'm still you after all** ," the Shadow taunted.

"Shut up! YOU'RE NOT ME," Chie yelled.

At this declaration Shadow Chie laughed as darkness gathered to her. Then with a shockwave of power, she changed from an evil copy of Chie into a bluish gray skinned dominatrix that was sitting on mannequins that were carrying her.

The shockwave had pushed Chie off her feet, while the guys took a battle stance. Yu glanced at Teddie."Teddie. Yosuke and I will distract it. While it's attention is on us get Chie away," the silver haired boy told the bear.

Teddie didn't like the idea," B-b-b-but sensei, what if I get caught or..".

"Teddie! I'm counting on you," Yu said while giving the bear costume a confident smile. With this Teddie was resolved. "Ready, Yosuke," Yu asked Yosuke while his tarot card appeared.

" Hell Yeah, partner," Yosuke affirmed as his card appeared too. "PERSONA," the two shouted in unison and shattered their cards.

" **I am a shadow the true self. Now then time to get rid of you** ," Shadow Chie cackled as she swung her whip at the real one. Only to be blocked by Izanagi. The shadow had no time to even wonder what happened before it was hit by Jiraiya's shurikens. At that moment Teddie ran towards the terrified Chie. " Chie-chan we need to move," the bear costume said as he practically dragged the fear frozen Chie away from the immediate danger. When Shadow Chie recovered, she noticed that the real one had been moved away. " **What do you guys think you're doing? Trying to protect the 'real' me,** " The shadow asked in anger. " **Then you're gonna pay the price** ," she added while lashing her whip in emphasis.

"Zio," Yu ordered Izanagi, who sent a lightning at Shadow Chie. Sadly the shadow didn't seem take much damage from it. Shadow Chie cackled at the attempt while sending several hair blades at the offending persona. Yu withdrew Izanagi, before the attack could connect.

As Yu withdrew his persona, Yosuke had ordered a garu from Jiraiya. Yosuke's persona did as commanded and blasted Shadow Chie with wind. This time Shadow Chie cried in pain.

" It's weak to wind," Teddie exclaimed, causing Yosuke to smirk.

" Jiraiya, again," Yosuke cheered. Jiraiya was about to cast another garu, but the Shadow struck with her whip, causing Jiraiya reel back and by extension Yosuke.

As this was happening Chie was looking at the situation right next to Teddie, still processing what was happening. First a shadowy copy of her appeared, spouting all those lies. Then it turned into that thing and now the guys were fighting against it with some strange creatures. Worst thing for Chie was, she felt utterly helpless.

"Rakunda!" Izanagi cast a defense lowering spell on Shadow Chie, just before Yu took a swipe at it. "Sukukaja!" Jiraiya gave Yu a reflex boost, which allowed the silver haired persona user to dodge a counterattack from the shadow. "Damn it. We need to hit it harder somehow," Yosuke complained before he had to avoid a hair blade. Yu considered Yosukes words, then he withdrew Izanagi. Next he called his tarot card, but the picture was same as Yosuke's tarot. "Orobas," Yu exclaimed as he summoned a demonic horse.

This surprised Yosuke," The Hell!? You can use two personas," the kunai wielder exclaimed as Orobas sent a wave of flames at Shadow Chie. The shadow cried as she was burned.

"Yosuke. Finish it now," Yu yelled. The kunai wielder didn't need to be told twice.

"Garu!" and Jiraiya sent one more blast of wind. Not only was the shadow hit with it's weakness, but the winds also fanned the flames that were burning its body. " **No! I can't end like this** ," The shadow cried as its whip started to radiate cold.

" Sensei! It's going to use a big attack. Run," Teddie cried from the sidelines.

"What," Yosuke yelled."How the hell can it still-" Yosuke didn't get to finish that sentence as the shadow struck it's whip to the ground causing an enormous blizzard to engulf the entire room. Once the blizzard subsided the shadow finally dissolved, turning back into a copy of Chie. Yu and Yosuke had braced themselves at the last second, but they were both shivering. Teddie had used his body to protect Chie, so the bear was near frozen solid, while the girl in green was just feeling cold. The two boys jogged towards Chie.

"S-s-s-satonaka, y-y-y-y-you okay," Yosuke asked with clattering teeth. Chie could only look at the two boys and feel guilty about them freezing.

" **Why the hell didn't you morons die** ," yelled a voice that came from Shadow Chie's direction. However, the voice came from behind the shadow, near the doors. The three instantly recognized it as Viljam Nousku. Or his shadow actually. " **You were supposed to die in that evil bitch's last ditch effort,** " the shadow yelled at them with pure hate in its voice.

"WHAT!? You got some nerve," Yosuke yelled while taking a battle stance, but he was unsteady and still shivering in cold. " **Tch. I should've known that helping others is pointless,** " Shadow Viljam complained. " **Oh well I hope Yukiko's misery is more entertaining. Heippa hölmöt,** " The shadow said before running off, phasing through the doors as it ran.

Chie was instantly on her feet," Is he going to hurt Yukiko!? I gotta go after him," Chie cried, but then she saw her shadow that was just standing there with a blank expression. "What's wrong. Got nothing left to say," Chie mocked her shadow.

"Satonaka don't. If you deny it again it will attack us," Yosuke said with some difficulty, since he was still cold.

"But-,"Chie was interrupted by Yu's hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. That thing is only one part of you. It doesn't change who you are," Yu encouraged.

"He's right. I went through the same thing. Except my shadow didn't pull a super attack before death," Yosuke said in sympathy. Chie put her head down in shame. Then she turned to her shadow.

"It's true that I'm jealous of Yukiko, but I never lied about being friends with her," Chie said to her shadow,"I couldn't forgive myself for having this side. But in the end, you're still me," Chie said.

At Chie's admission the shadow transformed into persona. A female samurai wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a plated skirt. The samurai also wore white boots and a white pointed helmet. She was wielding a naginata. This is Chie's persona Tomoe Gozen.

After Tomoe faded away, Chie collapsed. The boys came to her in concern.

"Are you okay," Yu asked concerned. Chie stood up a little unsteadily.

"Yeah. Just a little tired." Chie said, but the guys weren't convinced.

"You're not fooling anyone," Yosuke said jokingly. "I'm not sure any of us are fit to move on," the headphone wearing boy added seriously.

" Agreed. We should go back for now. Satonaka-san needs rest and so do we," Yu said. Truthfully, it's a miracle they didn't get a frostbite, considering how cold the blizzard felt. Maybe it's because of their personas, maybe because the blizzard lasted only an instant, who knows.

"Yeah don't wanna risk a catching a-a-ACHOO," Yosuke's joke was cut off by a sneeze, "-cold" Yosuke finished with a new wave of shivering.

"But Yukiko's still in here. I need to get to her-.". "No. If we fall here, then who will save Amagi-san or Nousku," Yu interrupted Chie. The green clad girls shoulders slumped in defeat. It was true, as much as she hated to admit it.

"Sensei's right Chie-chan. Besides, Yuki-chan and Nousku are normal so the shadows won't attack them. They only attack when the fog lifts here," Teddie, who was somehow out of the ice, pointed out. Chie gave Teddie a confused look, which Yu picked on.

"Teddie told us that when it's foggy in our world, the fog lifts here," The silverhaired boy explained.

"Last I checked the weather report, there shouldn't be fog for a while. So Amagi and Nousku will be safe until then," Yosuke said helpfully.

"Alright," Chie said slightly saddened. With those words the three walked back to their own world slowly but surely. Chie gave the doors that Viljam's shadow went through one last look on the way out.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **Whoopsie. That battle went differently. Why? Wait until the next chapter to see. Also this is my first fight scene so please tell me how I did.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **(Yasogami High. April 18th. Morning)**

Yesterday when the three got out of the tv world. Yu and Yosuke had taken every precaution they knew to not catch a cold. Thankfully it worked and the two were now at school fully rested and ready to save Yukiko and Viljam today after school. Though they were still worried about Chie.

"I wonder, if Satonaka's okay. I mean, she has every right to be worried about Amagi," Yosuke wondered aloud. "If she took a rest like we told her to, she should be okay to come with us today," Yu said confident that Chie would be okay. Yosuke gave his partner a look.

"You make it sound like we're going to force her," the headphone wearing boy said in suspicion.

"And you make it sound like she would say no if we asked her to come," Yu countered. Yosuke conceded to the point. After all Chie is Yukiko's best friend and hell bent on saving her.

Speaking of the green clad girl, she just arrived. "Morning guys," Chie said sounding surprisingly normal. The guys exchanged a look with each other slightly surprised.

"You okay," Yu asked slightly concerned.

"Yup. A-okay," Chie replied cheerfully. This didn't last too long as Chie's expression quickly became a mixture of embarrassment and shame. "Thanks for everything yesterday," Chie said. "It's kinda embarrassing that you saw my hidden feelings and all," Chie admitted with shame.

"It's fine. The same happened to me," Yosuke said dismissively.

"Oh right. What was it like," Chie asked in curiosity.

"Uhh. That's..." Yosuke stuttered not wanting to remember, "Oh right. Nothing happened to you when you got your persona," Yosuke quickly diverted the attention to mildly startled Yu.

"Oh? Nothing happened to you? Well you do seem like an open guy," Chie commented, making the silverhaired boy smile a little.

Chie decided to get to the important thing, "Anyways, what matters now is to rescue Yukiko and Nousku-kun," the green clad girl said. "And I'm coming with you. Remember that," Chie continued to which the other two nodded.

 **(Tv World. Yukiko's Castle. April 18th. After school)**

After school, Yu and Chie went to buy some supplies they might need in the tv world while Yosuke said he needed to do a few things at home. Yesterday before they left the tv world Teddie had given Chie yellow framed glasses, which she was now wearing. As the three(and Teddie) entered the room where they faced Chie's shadow, they all got shivers down their spines remembering the super attack it used.

"I still wonder how Chie's shadow pulled something like that," Yosuke wondered aloud, as they passed the doors and were moving up the stairs. Yosuke had a point. If the shadow had something like that, why didn't it use it sooner.

"Umm I'm not sure how, but I sensed something that wasn't in the room until right before it was charging the attack," Teddie said wracking his non-existent brain.

A light bulb went off in Yu's head "Could it have been Nousku's shadow," Yu asked, seeing as the finnish boy's shadow appeared from seemingly out of no where.

This made Yosuke think, "It did say that helping others was pointless. Does that mean it gave Chie's shadow some kind of boost before we defeated it," the head phone wearing boy pointed out.

"If that's the case. Then we need to be extra careful," Yu said in slight worry.

The three persona wielders were running around the castle while taking out occasional shadows that came their way. Teddie was being extra vigilant of another super attack, because if Viljam's shadow could power up Chie's shadow, who's to say that it can't do so for the regular ones. So far however, the shadows they faced didn't use anything that could be classified as a super attack.

"This is weird," Chie said as she kicked another shadow into smithereens with a steel toed shoe.

"Yeah, how far away are those two," Yosuke agreed, while Jiraiya threw a shuriken at shadow killing it.

"No. I mean, why hasn't Viljam's shadow powered up any of the shadows we have faced," Chie corrected Yosuke, who was unsure how to answer that. A lightning struck down a shadow as Yu turned towards his friends.

" We have been assuming that Nousku's shadow can power up any shadow. Maybe it can't do that to just any shadow," Yu theorized, while giving a questioning glance at Teddie, who caught on it.

"Well. It's possible that Nousku's shadow can only power up shadows that come out of people directly," Teddie said unsure.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in Chie's head, "Or, what if there's a limit to how many times it can do it," the green clad girl said while Tomoe sliced and kicked shadows left and right. This revelation made the other three stare at Chie in shock. That actually made sense.

"Chie-chan is smart," Teddie cheered, surprising the said girl.

"Wh-. I just said the first thing that came to mind," Chie stuttered in embarrassment.

"Let's still move on assuming that shadow can do it's super power trick as much as it pleases," Yosuke said as another group of shadows came at them.

The three persona wielders had ran around the castle for hours. The only relatively dangerous moment was when they faced an enormous knight-like shadow, but even then Viljam's shadow didn't appear once. Even when the knight shadow had a momentary opportunity to finish Yosuke with a super attack that never appeared. The three persona wielders and the bear were now sitting in front of a door. According to Teddie, Yukiko and Viljam were behind it. Chie wanted to rush in, but Yu insisted they take a short break. During this time, the three had sat down and eaten some snacks that Yosuke had brought in case they got hungry. Teddie was trying to snatch some, but was whacked by Yosuke. The three also checked each other for injuries and treated themselves with medicine Chie and Yu bought at Shiroku's.

The team finally rushed through the doors into a throne room. In the room they saw Yukiko, her shadow and Viljam. Yukiko was in her pink kimono that she wears when working at the inn, while Viljam was dressed in the same loose shirt and pants he was accidentally seen on tv. Strangely, Viljam's shadow was absent.

" **What's this? Three princes are here to see me. My it's getting crowded in here why don't you and I go somewhere else,** " Shadow Yukiko said seductively.

"Oooh. Is this that 'scoring a hot stud' thing," Teddie asked in wonder. Earlier it was mentioned that the real Yukiko wouldn't say things like 'Scoring a hot stud' and Teddie asked what it meant, but no one wanted to answer. Chie currently had something else in mind.

"Three princes? Does that include me," Chie wondered.

"Duh. The third one's obviously me," Teddie said smugly. "I think even Nousku would fit that better than you," Yosuke quipped.

" **Joo, ja lehmät lentävät,** " Said a voice, that earned everyone's attention. From behind one of the pillars on the side, Viljam's shadow stepped out holding a sinister grin, " **Oops I forgot, most of the audience here don't speak finnish,** " Viljam's shadow joked. " **In case you want to know, that previous sentence meant, 'Yeah and cows fly',** " The shadow continued, which made Viljam and everyone else surprised.

"Guys. What's going on," Viljam asked confused and a little scared at the situation.

" **Viljam Nousku is better suited for being a helpless princess than a prince, so I'd say your guess about Chie being the third prince is pretty accurate,** " The male shadow continued ignoring Viljam.

" **That's right. Chie is a strong prince. Or at least she was,** " Yukiko's shadow continued as if on cue.

"Was," Chie questioned.

" **When it comes down to it, Chie just isn't good enough. She can't save me! She can't take me away from here,** " Shadow Yukiko clarified in anger.

"Yukiko," Chie said in sad tone.

" **Historic inn? Manager training!? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down,** " Shadow Yukiko said in a raised voice, earning a sympathetic look from Viljam to Yukiko.

" **HER!? I'm the one that's chained down here,** " Shadow Viljam took over the conversation. " **Good boy!? Best little brother in the world!? All that means is that I'm a worthless defect to my parents and my sisters,** " the male shadow yelled with venom in his voice. The three were confused and worried at the shadows words. What kind of life did Viljam have at home.

"STOP!" "PÄÄ KIINNI!" Yukiko and Viljam yelled at their respective shadows.

" **I didn't ask to be born here! Everything's decided for me! From how I live, to where I die,** " Shadow Yukiko said again.

" **Yeah sure! A future in a golden cage for her, no future for me! My asthma prevents me from doing sports! I'm just a living dress up doll! I'm just a mindless servant for my sisters and my lazy-ass mom and nothing else,** " Shadow Viljam took over once again. This almost looked like the two shadows had planned this.

" **I'm so sick of it! To hell with it all!** " " **Same here,** " Both shadows yelled.

"That's not true," Yukiko nearly cried.

"Ei ole totta," Viljam yelled, while holding back tears.

" **I just want to go somewhere far away...Anywhere but here**." " **I just want to be someone else... Anyone but me,** " Shadow Yukiko and Shadow Viljam said taking turns.

" **I am completely useless(worthless),** " the two shadows said in unison, both mocking the real ones.

"Please stop," Yukiko begged her shadow, while Viljam just couldn't hold the tears anymore.

" **I have no hope if I stay and no courage to leave. So I sit on my ass hoping my prince will some day take me away. I don't care where so long as it's not here,** " Shadow Yukiko said mockingly.

" **Touching. I too wanted to get out of my miserable life. That's why I came to Japan. Sadly I must go back to it with no right to say anything. And once I return, I will once again become a worthless existence that hasn't done anything on his own and never will,** " Shadow Viljam continued with Viljam with equal amount of mocking.

"HOW DARE YOU!" "EN OLE ARVOTON!" Yukiko and Viljam cried at their shadows.

" **That's how I really feel.** " " **Näin minä oikeasti ajattelen** ," the two shadows said in unison. " **Isn't that right..me?** " " **Eikös vain...minä?** " they continued.

"No," Yukiko said with difficulty, while Viljam looked at his shadow with hatred.

The four onlookers finally snapped out of the shock of there being not only two possibly powerful shadows at once, but for them to coordinate so well together.

" Stop don't say it," Yosuke yelled at the two, but it was useless.

"YOU'RE NOT ME!" "ET OLE MINÄ!" The two yelled in unison at their shadows. At this, the two shadows cackled as they transformed, while Yukiko and Viljam were rendered unconcious.

Shadow Yukiko took on a form of a red bird with Yukiko's hair and facial features. It was also in an open bird cage which was hanging from the ceiling. The cage also had multiple candles surrounding it like a chandelier.

Shadow Viljam took on a form of a mechanical bird, much larger than Shadow Yukiko. It's metallic wings seem battered though and not capable of flying. It's talons were rusted scythe blades. Finally where it's head is supposed to be, there are three human sized dolls. The lefternmost doll was female with blonde hair. It was holding a bow. The righternmost doll was also female, but this one had brown hair. It also had an enormous quiver with arrows in it. Lastly the middle doll was male and had light brown hair. It was wearing a blindfold and it's mouth was sewn shut.

"Those two are in danger, we gotta save them," Teddie exclaimed. "Yeah. We know, but how are we supposed to beat both of them," Yosuke wondered.

"Satonaka-san, Teddie. Get Amagi and Nousku to safety. Once they're out of immediate danger, We'll take these two down," Yu said confidently. Though in reality the silverhaired boy was worried. If Shadow Viljam truly could use some kind of super boost when it wasn't berserk, who knows what it can do now.

" **I am a shadow the true self. Now my prince why don't we dance,** " Shadow Yukiko said giggling.

" **Olen varjo, todellinen minä. Minun vuoroni polkea muut tossun alle,** " said Shadow Viljam snickering. Shadow Viljam stepped forward in an attempt to step on Viljam. However Izanagi blocked the scythe claws. While Teddie grabbed Viljam's legs and dragged him away a safe distance. Meanwhile Jiraiya threw shurikens at Shadow Yukiko, while Chie picked her best friend and moved her away with some difficulty.

"Don't worry Yukiko, well save you. Just hang in there a little longer," Chie said as she put her best friend behind the farthest pillar in the room. Then she turned towards Viljam, who Teddie had brought in the same place. "You too Nousku-kun," Chie said before running back to the fight.

"Go get them guys," Teddie cheered.

Jiraiya dodged an arrow that the dolls of Shadow Viljam fired. Strange setting. The female dolls were putting the bow and arrow in the male doll's hand, while making it's hands go through the motions of firing the bow.

"What is up with those dolls," Yosuke complained as he tried to slice at Shadow Viljam's leg, but it didn't even leave a scratch.

"The heck," Yosuke exclaimed, before he was swatted away by the shadows metallic wing.

" **Tuo ei toimi rääpäle,** " Shadow Viljam mocked before firing another arrow. This one however shattered into shards of ice. Yosuke was able to pick himself up to dodge the attack.

Yu would've helped Yosuke, but Shadow Yukiko was keeping him busy with fire attacks. Yu had switched Izanagi for Senri who was blocking the flames. Shadow Yukiko's assault was interrupted by ice shards caused by Tomoe's bufu spell.

"It's weak to ice," Teddie yelled from the cover, making Chie smile

"Tarukaja," Chie exclaimed and Tomoe empowered her. "Bufu!" Tomoe sent more ice shards at Shadow Yukiko, who retreated into her cage. The spell didn't damage the cage at all."Damn it," Chie cursed.

As Chie was dealing with Shadow Yukiko, Yu had switched out to help Yosuke. But nothing they did caused any damage to the shadow.

" **Milloin te kaaliaivot tajuatte, että minua ei voi satuttaa,** " Shadow Viljam laughed.

"I don't know which is worse here," Yosuke complained as he ordered Jiraiya to use garu, but it didn't do anything to it. "The fact that nothing we do won't even scratch it, or that I have no idea what that thing is saying," Yosuke continued. Yu had to agree, whenever their attacks didn't damage it, the shadow said something to taunt them. But neither could understand Finnish so they had no idea what it was saying. Though based on it's mocking tone, they had a pretty good guess on the context of it's words. This thought was cut off as Tomoe was flung away by a burst of flames and Chie screaming in pain.

One thing they discovered as they explored the castle. When a persona is hurt, their wielder was also hurt and Chie's persona was weak against fire. Tomoe was starting to crackle with static, like a bad tv reception. "Dia," Yosuke exclaimed and Jiraiya cast a healing spell on Chie, restoring her and her persona.

" **Torjukaas tämä jos pystytte,** " Shadow Viljam said before firing an arrow at...Shadow Yukiko. The three persona wielders were shocked from the friendly fire.

"SUPER ATTACK INCOMING," Teddie cried. True enough the arrow that hit Shadow Yukiko's chest was being absorbed into it's body.

" **AHHAhahaha. So much power building up. If this keeps up I will...,** " Shadow Yukiko cackled as her body started to glow brilliant red.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER," Yu yelled and the three ran behind one of the pillars. Shadow Yukiko flapped it's winds furiously shedding lots of feathers around. These feathers exploded into a firestorm. that nearly engulfed the room except for the area behind pillars where everyone hid. The firestorm didn't last long and it was only thanks to Yu switching to Senri to block any flames that got too close to them. While the pillar Teddie was hiding behind was far enough, that the attack didn't reach him or the defenseless humans he was protecting.

Suddenly Chie screamed. When the attack had finished, Shadow Viljam fired an arrow at Chie's back. The arrow instantly disappeared, but Chie collapsed.

"Satonaka! You okay," Yosuke asked in concern. Chie tried to get up but there was one problem.

"My legs! I can't move my legs," Chie yelled in panic. The other two were shocked. If it's arrows have the power to cripple their legs, then it was lucky that Yosuke hadn't been hit by them so far.

" **Nyt meillä on raajaton. Seuraavaksi hengetön,** " Shadow Viljam said firing another arrow.

"ARA MITAMA!" Yu switched Senri into a red magatama with an angry face. The arrow was blocked by the persona, but Yu somehow found breathing hard. "I think those arrows cause different ailments when they hit," Yu said, before having a coughing fit. Yu tried to change personas again, but he couldn't do it. "Damn *cough* it," Yu exclaimed as the coughing was becoming worse.

"Sensei! Try attacking the dolls! If you take them out the ailments might go away," Teddie shouted at them. Yu thought of it for an instant. True they had only been attacking it's body instead of the dolls that were it's head. If nothing else it would stop it from firing anymore arrows.

" Yosuke *cough* it's u*cough* to y*cough*ou," Yu said while coughing more and more, thankfully Yosuke was able to understand. The headphone wearing boy was bout to act, but Shadow Yukiko fired a large stream of fire at them, forcing them to dodge. Yosuke had to pick up Chie, who's lower body was paralyzed.

"We can't fight like this! There has to be something we can do to stop their teamwork," Yosuke shouted. Yu pointed between the two shadows and motioned between the two. After a moment Yosuke understood and ordered Jiraiya to throw both shurikens at the two shadows. Shadow Viljam raised it's wing to block the attack aimed for the dolls. While Shadow Yukiko retreated into her cage. As soon as Jiraiyas shurikens bounced off the defenses the two instantly fired their attacks. Shadow Yukiko's flames and Shadow Viljam's ice shards were avoided by Jiraiya, but the two shadows didn't notice that Jiraiya was positioned between the two so now their attacks were hitting each other.

Shadow Yukiko wailed in pain as the shards hit, but Shadow Viljam was able to hide behind it's wings. That joy didn't last long because Tomoe backstabbed the blonde doll with her naginata. Although Chie's lower body was paralyzed she could still use her persona. Tomoe ripped the blonde doll off, which instantly dissolved along with the bow. Now Shadow Viljam had nothing to fire arrows with. However the brunette doll picked an arrow and stabbed Tomoe, making her disappear. Chie tried to summon Tomoe again, but her tarot would not appear.

"Chie-chan's persona has been sealed," Teddie cried.

'What?' was what Chie wanted to yell, but no words would come out. Chie had lost her voice.

" **Raajaton ja äänetön. Miltäs tuntuu olla puolustus kyvytön,** " Shadow Viljam taunted and was charging at Chie and Yosuke, the latter was still carrying the former. Shadow Viljam was stopped by Shadow Yukiko flying from her cage and grabbing onto both dolls with it's talons.

" **You** **filthy commoner dared to attack me! Off with your heads,** " Shadow Yukiko declared in anger and ripped the two dolls off. The dolls and the bird body were dissolving. This meant that they now had only one shadow to deal with. In addition Shadow Viljam's ice attack had dealt severe damage to Shadow Yukiko. Not to mention, it was now out of the safety of it's cage.

"Izanagi!" "Jiraiya!" Yu and Yosuke yelled. True to Teddie's theory, now that the dolls were defeated Shadow Viljam's ailments have been dispelled. Now Jiraiya flew right below Shadow Yukiko and Sonic Punched it up high. Right towards waiting Izanagi, who kicked it back down. Right at Tomoe, who Chie had summoned back. "Beat it," Chie shouted as Tomoe kicked Shadow Yukiko's side while at the same time bringing her naginata at it's neck. Shadow Yukiko along with it's cage finally dissolved.

"We Won," Yosuke and Chie cheered while hugging each other. Then Chie realized what was happening and kneed Yosuke's stomach. "Don't try to take advantage of the situation," Chie accused, while Yosuke was nursing his stomach. Yu shook his head at their antics. The two then walked towards Teddie and their two friends, who were regaining consciousness.

"Yukiko, are you hurt," Chie asked her best friend. Yukiko looked at her best friend and then she noticed her shadow that was once again in the princess form. Not far away Viljam's shadow looked angry.

"...I'm not," Yukiko said shaking her head, but she wasn't talking about her condition.

"It's okay. You're not the only one like that, Amagi-san," Yosuke said sympathetically. "Everyone has something they can't show to others, or don't want to admit to themselves," the headphone wearing boy continued.

Right after that Chie approached her best friend. "Yukiko. I'm so sorry," Chie said, surprising Yukiko and earning Viljam's attention. "I was so self-centered, that I never understood what you were going through," the green clad girl continued while holding back tears.

"I'm supposed to be your friend, but I couldn't even...I'm so sorry," Chie said unable to hold her tears anymore. "I was jealous of you Yukiko. You had everything that I didn't...I wanted you to need me...But it was me who needed you..If you weren't by my side, I...I wouldn't know what to do," Chie finished as she tried to wipe her tears.

" Chie," Yukiko said as she pulled her best friend into a hug. "I never saw the real you either...I was too busy trying to find an easy way out," Yukiko said before releasing the hug and walked towards her shadow.

" 'I want to run away' 'I want someone to save me'...You're right, those feelings are part of me, too," Yukiko said to her shadow. "I understand now. You're me," Yukiko said, to which her shadow nodded.

Yukiko's shadow transformed into a female being with white and pink dress. She was also wearing a scarflike cloth that was shaped in the likeness of flower petals. This is Konohana Sakuya, Yukiko's persona.

After Konohana Sakuya faded, Yukiko fell on her knees in exhaustion.

"Yukiko," Chie shouted in concern. Everyone, minus Viljam who had his head hung low, ran to her.

"Are you okay Amagi-san," Yu asked the kimono wearing girl.

"Yes I'm just a little tired," Yukiko said with a tired smile. "You all came to rescue me," Yukiko asked.

"Of course," Chie said cheerful once again. Before anyone could continue, someone who they thought was harmless decided to speak up.

" **EI OLE REILUA,** " Yelled Viljam's shadow earning everyones attention. They had completely forgotten that the other shadow was still there.

" **Taas se nähtiin, kukaan ei minusta piittaa. Nuo tulivat auttamaan Yukikoa eikä minua,** " The shadow sounded like it was about to cry. Everyone but Viljam was confused on what the shadow was babbling about.

"It's still coming at us. Viljam's is still rejecting it," Teddie cried in terror. This revelation caused everyone to turn to Viljam who was covering his ears.

" **Älä teeskentele, ettet kuule! Tämä on kyllä uusi ennätys. Parissa päivässä nuo kyllästyivät minuun,** " the shadow continued while trying to pry Viljam's hands off the ears. Yu was now worried and scared. If Viljam denies his shadow again they would have to fight it all over again, and they were already exhausted. "Nousku, you have to-"

" KITA KIINNI," Viljam yelled while punching his shadow. "Voit säästää keuhkojasi. Tiedän kyllä," Viljam said to his shadow, who finally shut up.

" 'Kukaan ei minusta piittaa'..'Olen viallinen, arvoton ja kaikin tavoin siskojeni alapuolella'. Kauanko siitä on, kun luulin päässeeni sinusta eroon," Viljam said to his shadow, who's face was calming with each word.

"En jaksa teeskennellä enää. Olet minä, enkä voi sille mitään," Viljam sighed. Viljam's shadow let out a few tears, but it looked happy.

Viljam's shadow transformed into grayish blue skinned female figure wearing dress made of thick white furs. It's hands were metallic, with the fingers being scythe-like blades. The female also had jewellry made of bones. On it's back it had white wings, with few black spots. It also had a white wolf head pelt, that covered the head and half of the face, with eagle-like eyes staring underneath. Finally, it had long crimson hair, that was rained with snow flakes. This is Viljam's persona, Louhi.

When Viljam's persona faded, the Finnish boy finally collapsed on his knees.

"Nousku," Yu exclaimed as he and the others came to him, with Yukiko leaning against Chie for support.

"I know you guys wouldn't have come if it was only me, but thanks anyway," Viljam said sadly. Everyone flinched at his words.

"What are you saying? Of course we came for you too," Yosuke said. But Viljam didn't believe it.

"Is that why you went straight to Yukiko-san and ignored me," Viljam asked bitterly, making Yosuke flinch. Yu stepped in and put his hand on the Finnish boy's shoulder.

"We came here to save you both. You may not believe me, but that is the truth," the silverhaired boy said, causing the Finnish boy to smile ever so slightly.

" Yeah. Thank you guys," Viljam conceded, as he stood up with some difficulty. Yu came in to support.

"I can walk myself," Viljam weakly protested.

"Oh don't try to act tough. Everyone needs support sometimes," Yosuke said, while patting Viljam's back.

"So. Who threw you two in here," Teddie asked without a warning, earning a surprised look from Yukiko and Viljam.

"Who are you," Yukiko asked.

"Better question. What are you," Viljam added before anyone could reply. Teddie was unphased at the questions

"I'm Teddie. So who threw you here," the red and blue bear replied eager for answers. Yukiko and Viljam thought hard on it. It was Yukiko who answered first, "I don't know. I think...someone called my name. But my memory's a blur. I can't remember who it was. I'm sorry umm...Teddie," Yukiko said.

"I can't remember either. Sorry," Viljam said in shame.

"No new clues," Teddie sighed in disappointment at not having new clues.

"Actually, now we know for sure someone threw Amagi-san and Nousku in here," Yosuke said

"Then it really isn't you guys," Teddie said, causing Yosuke and Yu to give the bear a blanched look.

"You still suspected us," Yu asked in disbelief.

"J-just joking," Teddie tried defending himself.

"You little...You're one lying sack of honey," Yosuke said annoyed, while Viljam chuckled at the wording. When Yu and Yosuke appeared in the tv world second time Teddie accused the two for being the culprits who threw people into his world. Teddie came to this conclusion, because Yu and Yosuke came in on their own.

"Anyways, let's hurry back home. Yukiko and Nousku-kun look exhausted," Chie said as she was supporting Yukiko. With those words the five were walking out.

"WHahh. You're leaving me here," Teddie cried, earning a confused look from everyone.

" What are you talking about? You live here," Yosuke pointed out.

"Well...Yeah but," Teddie stuttered sadly.

"I'm sorry Teddie. I promise I'll come again" Yukiko said as she approached the bear with Chie's help. "So be a good boy and wait until then," the kimono wearing girl said while petting the bear, who sounded pleased. Viljam couldn't help but smile at the sound the oversized teddie bear was making.

"My, it's getting crowded in here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else?" And now Viljam face-palmed while everyone else, minus Yukiko, sweat dropped at Teddies attempt to flirt.

"That's it! You're stuck here for the rest of your life," Yosuke said. With that Yukiko and Viljam were led out of the tv world.

 **(Amagi Inn. April 19th. after school)**

As much as the three wanted to ask more about the circumstances behind Yukiko's and Viljam's kidnapping, the two were exhausted, so they decided to let the two return to Amagi Inn and rest. Thankfully Junes was practically empty by the time they got out of the Tv world, so they were able to get the two out without anyone noticing.

Now Chie was checking on Yukiko and Viljam who had been absent for the day. Yukiko hadn't felt too well so she was taking a few days off from school. Same with Viljam.

"So. What did you tell the police," Chie asked Yukiko who was sitting in her futon wearing a large yukata.

"I told them I don't remember anything about where I was," Yukiko replied. The three had expressively told the girl yesterday not to tell the police about the tv world. They would think she was crazy.

"That's good. What about Nousku-kun," Chie asked, curious about what Viljam said.

"Same as me when I asked him," Yukiko said, but then she looked sad for some reason.

"What's wrong," Chie asked in concern.

" Nousku-kun's family wants him to return home," Yukiko said sadly. Of course when Viljam disappeared his family was notified with the assistance of a translator. The conversation the Finnish boy had with his parents on his cell was so loud that anyone who happened to be listening outside his room could hear a womans voice, possibly his mother.

"What!? What did Viljam say to them," Chie asked concerned of what he responded to his family.

"Nousku-kun said he wasn't going back until next year," Yukiko said, causing Chie to sigh in relief. "But Chie, when did you two become so close," Yukiko asked in curiosity, causing Chie to flinch. In japanese culture referring to someone by their first name and without any suffixes such as 'san' is seen as rude. Unless you're good friends with the person or even lovers. The latter case is what Chie thought her best friend was implying.

"No! NO! I j-j-just s-s-slipped. Yeah that's right" Chie stuttered while blushing. This caused Yukiko to laugh uncontrollably.

"Urgh would you please stop," Chie pleaded to no avail. When Yukiko finally stopped she remembered something.

"Chie, could you go and check on Nousku-kun. Ever since he called his parents no one has heard from him. I'm worried," Yukiko asked her best friend. Chie smiled cheerfully.

"Of course. I'll see if he's alright. You just wait for a moment," Chie said and walked off after getting directions from Yukiko.

Chie walked off towards the room given for the Finnish boy and knocked on the door. No response. Chie knocked again, but no response again. Now Chie was getting worried. What if he disappeared again? With that dreadful thought, Chie opened the door and looked in. In the middle of the small room's tatami mats was a futon, which had a noticeable lump wrapped in a blanket. Chie carefully walked around the futon to see the sleeping face of Viljam.

Chie was wondering if the boy was even breathing with how still he is. The green clad girl lightly poked his exposed cheek, but the sleeping boy didn't react. Chie poked a little harder but no response. Chie poked a third time, which she instantly regretted. Viljam grabbed the offending arm in his sleep and Chie was pulled down with a yelp. Then before Chie could react, the boy wrapped his arms around her and by extension, the blanket he was covered in. After few seconds of struggling in Viljam's surprisingly tight grasp, Chie resorted to yelling.

"Hey! Wake up," the green clad girl yelled, but the boy didn't react. Chie stared at the peacefully sleeping face in disbelief, " _Is he sleeping or hibernating_ ," the trapped girl wondered in her head. She was tempted to kick him, but he was asleep so he wasn't doing this on purpose. Also Chie would feel bad for kicking a sick person.

"Nousku-kun this isn't funny," Chie yelled as hard as she could but the boy just slept through it. Then Viljam rubbed his cheek against Chie's head while squeezing her in the bear hug.

"...pehmonalle..." the Finnish boy mumbled in his sleep. Chie had no idea what he said, but she was still blushing at the treatment she was getting.

Few minutes passed with Chie trying to struggle and yell, but neither woke up the heavy sleeper. Finally one of the inn workers named Kasai walked past and saw the situation through the door Chie had left open. After a few seconds and Chie calling for help once, the woman giggled into her hand. Kasai came in and poked Viljam's rib causing him to cover the area in reflex, which released Chie.

"I thought he'd never let go," Chie said in embarrassment after scurrying away.

"Nousku-chan is surprisingly heavy sleeper. Then again he did seem very exhausted," Kasai stated in amusement. The green clad girl glared at the sleeping boy, until she noticed something. She didn't notice it through the blanket before, but now that she looked, Viljam wasn't wearing a shirt. Chie had sometimes thought about having a boyfriend, but she never dared to dream about being held by one, much less a shirtless boy.

"Don't think too much Chie-chan," Kasai said, guessing Chie's train of thought. "If you do, you might make things more awkward than they actually are," the inn worker explained in amusement, while putting the blanket back on the sleeping boy. Viljam moved into a more comfortable position in his sleep. Chie could only nod while getting up and walking back to Yukiko's room.

Chie had told Yukiko that Viljam was sleeping, but left out the part about getting locked in a bear hug. Chie had agreed to take notes for Yukiko during classes, so she wouldn't fall behind. On her way home, Chie could only hope that Kasai wouldn't tell Yukiko about that incident. The Amagi heiress would never let her live it down. Worse yet, what if Yosuke found out somehow. The Junes boy was already convinced that Viljam was Chie's boyfriend. The teasing would never end.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I had way too much fun writing the last part. Will things escalate from there? Who knows?**

 **As for the shadow and persona. I chose the persona first. Then I based the shadow around it. Have fun trying to figure out, what the symbolism behind the shadow is.**

 **Sorry but the Arcana will be revealed later. Though now you should have it narrowed down. First person to get it right will get imaginary cookies and cupcakes XD.**

 **Translations from Finnish:**

1\. PÄÄ KIINNI! **= Shut the head(basically: shut up)**

2\. Ei ole totta = **Isn't true**

3\. EN OLE ARVOTON= I'm not worthless

4. **Minun vuoroni polkea muut tossun alle = My turn to stomp others under my slipper (I probably don't need to explain the meaning of this. I also didn't bother translating the parts where the Finnish sentences are spoken in unison, because they mean the same thing)**

5. **Tuo ei toimi rääpäle= That doesn't work wimp(or any other synonym, you can think of)**

6. **Milloin te kaaliaivot tajuatte, että minua ei voi satuttaa= When will you cabbage brains realize that I can't be harmed(Not word to word, but the meaning is the same)**

7. **Torjukaas tämä jos pystytte= Block this if you can(plural 'you' in this case)**

8. **Nyt meillä on raajaton. Seuraavaksi hengetön=Now we have a limbless. Next up breathless**

9. **Raajaton ja äänetön. Miltäs tuntuu olla puolustus kyvytön= Limbless and breathless. How does it feel to be defenseless**

10. **EI OLE REILUA= No fair**

11. **Taas se nähtiin, kukaan ei minusta piittaa. Nuo tulivat auttamaan Yukikoa eikä minua=We see it again, no one cares about me. They came to help Yukiko not me**

12. **Älä teeskentele, ettet kuule! Tämä on kyllä uusi ennätys. Parissa päivässä nuo kyllästyivät minuun=Don't pretend you can't hear! This sure is a new record. In a couple days they grew bored of me**

13\. KITA KIINNI= **Shut the maw(same meaning as** 1 **)**

14\. Voit säästää keuhkojasi. Tiedän kyllä= **You can spare your lungs. I do know**

15\. 'Kukaan ei minusta piittaa'..'Olen viallinen, arvoton ja kaikin tavoin siskojeni alapuolella'. Kauanko siitä on, kun luulin päässeeni sinusta eroon,= ' **No one cares about me'..'I'm defective, worthless and in every way beneath my sisters'. How long has it been since I thought I got rid of you**

16\. En jaksa teeskennellä enää. Olet minä, enkä voi sille mitään= I can't pretend anymore. You're me and there's nothing I can do about it

17\. pehmonalle= **s** **oft bear(When a Finnish says 'nalle' they mean a cute bear, like bear cubs, teddie bears, that sort of thing)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **Author's notes:**

 **I had some problems writing this one. I just couldn't get it to be up to my standards. I had to scrap a portion of it in the end.**

 **Oh and for those who haven't noticed yet, I updated the 5th chapter with translations on Finnish sentences. I've decided that I would add translations at the end of my author's notes for anything relatively important.**

* * *

 **(Junes Food Court. April 23rd. After School)**

It has been few days since Chie nearly became Viljam's cuddle toy. She Yosuke and Yu were supposed to review the cases today, but Yu took off somewhere else after receiving a call from Ai Ebihara.

Before Chie went to check on Yukiko and Viljam few days ago, she made Yu join basketball club. Sad thing is, since Kou Ichijo, the head of the club, practically begged him to join, Yu couldn't find it in himself to refuse. Some time after that Yu had started dating Ai Ebihara, the beautiful manager of the club. Though from Chie's perspective, Yu seemed miserable.

"What do you think of those two," Chie asked Yosuke, who was sitting opposite of him.

"Who," Yosuke asked in curiosity.

"Narukami-kun and Ebihara-san," Chie replied

"Well. They look like a cute couple," Yosuke said simply.

"No they're not! Haven't you noticed," Chie shouted, "The way she always drags Narukami-kun away, whenever she pleases," Chie finished her previous statement. "Why would Narukami-kun let himself be treated like that," The girl in green jacket complained.

"Well they say people in love do weird things," Yosuke guessed. "But why do you care," Yosuke asked, before he got a devious grin, "Oohh. Did you decide to dump your boyfriend and set your sights higher," Yosuke teased, but his fun was interrupted by Chie slamming the table.

"What. Is. Wrong. With YOU," Chie yelled at Yosuke. "Nousku-kun is not my boyfriend just because he said a couple nice things. What do you have against him," Chie nearly shouted, as she was just about done with Yosuke's teasing that was now borderline bullying.

Yosuke raised his hands in defence," Okay, okay. I'm sorry," the headphone wearing boy apologized. "Look it's not that I have anything against him, but with the rumors going on about him I just got jealous," Yosuke defended himself, causing Chie to have a question mark.

"What rumors," the kung fu loving girl asked in suspicion.

"They say Nousku and Amagi-san tried to run away together. Some even claim to have heard that he might have...'conquered the Amagi challenge'," Yosuke said with some difficulty on the last part."Their words, not mine," Yosuke hastily added. Chie was momentarily confused about what Yosuke meant, but then it hit her.

"Really," Chie asked baffled instead of angry. The green clad girl was unable to believe that Yukiko and Viljam would do something like that. "He's not you," Chie said like it was a fact, earning a frown from Yosuke.

"Speaking of Nousku-kun. Yukiko told me his family wants him to go back to Finland," Chie said, changing the subject.

It didn't take much for Yosuke to figure out why," Well I know my mom would go crazy, if I disappeared," Yosuke said having some sympathy for Viljam. "Do you think they'll have him return no matter what he says," Yosuke asked.

"According to Yukiko, Nousku-kun stays here until next spring," Chie said, but she wasn't so sure. After all Chie had no idea what Finnish families are like, much less Viljam's.

"I'm not sure I'll miss the joke he made on my name," Yosuke joked, which thankfully earned a slight smile from Chie.

"You have to admit, that was pretty clever. I wonder if there are other words in japanese that have a different meaning in finnish," Chie said, while thinking about asking about them from Viljam.

"Speaking of Finnish language, what do you think his shadow was shouting before Viljam accepted it," Yosuke changed the subject, genuienly curious about what the shadow was foaming about. Chie wracked her brain to figure out what the shadow was rambling, but all she got was that it said something about Yukiko. In the end Chie could only shrug.

"Oh well. Maybe we can ask him later. He probably doesn't want to remember, but it's worth a shot," Yosuke said. Chie wasn't sure if she wanted to know, because if Viljam's shadow said anything bad about Yukiko, who knows how the green clad girl would react.

"On another note. Maybe you should state your claim," Yosuke said smiling at Chie, who just looked at him confused. "Nousku, I mean. He's probably the best you'll ever-ARGH," Yosuke was interrupted by Chie strangling him.

 **(Yasogami High. April 30th. after school)**

Chie refused to talk to Yosuke for few days. That last comment about Viljam being the best she'll ever get hurt. Not that there was anything wrong with Viljam himself, but the way Yosuke said it made it sound like Chie was undesireable.

Well today Chie was happy to see both Viljam and Yukiko coming to school today. Though most of the male population were throwing innuendos about Viljam and Yukiko. Both were oblivious to them. Chie did try to stop the rumors from circulating, but it was hopeless. Not even her threat to kick people's asses worked. Actually this started another rumor where it was said that after Viljam 'conquered the Amagi challenge' he moved to Chie.

Now Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Viljam were waiting for Yukiko on the roof. Soon enough Yukiko arrived with two large packs of instant noodles

"Sorry to keep you waiting. The soba is yours right Chie," Yukiko said while handing one of the packs to Chie with chopsticks.

"Thanks," Chie said while accepting the pack happily. "Oohh. That smells so good," Chie said in delight. Viljam was a little confused. The packs were closed, yet he can smell the noodles through the lids and judging by the steam, they were already warmed. The boy decided not to question it.

"How much longer do I need to wait," Chie asked, clearly not willing to wait any longer.

"It still needs a few minutes," Yukiko said while sitting down next to Chie.

Yosuke decided that now was as good time as any to ask what happened with Yukiko and Viljam. "Amagi-san, Nousku, I hate to bring this up, but we need to ask you. Did either of you recall anything about when you were kidnapped," Yosuke asked carefully.

The two in question started to think. "No. I'm sorry," Yukiko said first. " I thought I might remember more as time passed, but it only gets hazier," the red clad girl said glumly.

"I think... the doorbell rang at the entrance and someone called for me," Yukiko said thinking hard. "But when I woke up I was already in the castle," Yukiko finished her explanation.

"That someone who called your name could've been me," Viljam said earning everyone's attention.

"I remember that I was walking in the halls exploring the place a little. Then I heard the doorbell too," Viljam continued wracking his brains as he did."When I reached the entrance I saw Yukiko-san already there. I turned to leave until I heard a noise," the Finnish boy said, earning everyone's undivided attention

"I looked back and saw that Yukiko-san wasn't at the entrance anymore. I walked towards the entrance, calling for Yukiko-san as I did. Then...I think someone grabbed me," Viljam said thinking hard on the last one. "When I woke up, I was at that castle," The Finnish boy finished, causing everyone to frown a little.

"Does this mean that whoever rung the doorbell is the culprit," Chie wondered.

"If it is, then that's one daring criminal. What kind of killer is crazy enough to ring the doorbell," Yosuke replied, causing Viljam to have a thoughtful look.

"Either a complete moron, or someone who thinks they can't be caught," the Finnish boy supplied earning a questioning look from everyone. "I watched a police show where the killers are complete whackos back home," Viljam explained.

"He does have a point. The police are probably looking for witnesses, but I don't think we can expect much from them," Yu said agreeing with Viljam's theory. Yosuke snorted, "As if the culprit would wear bright yellow clothes at a crime scene," the headphone wearing boy added to the previous statement.

"Why would anyone do stuff like this," Chie wondered aloud.

"We'll have to ask the killer when we catch them," Yu said confidently, to which everyone but Viljam nodded.

"Why us? Can't the police do it," Viljam asked, earning a look from all but Yukiko that said 'Really?'.

"Hello officer. We know that the culprit is killing people by throwing them inside tv," Yosuke said in sarcasm.

"Point taken," Viljam said feeling dumb. For VIljam's relief Yu decided to cut in.

"The police are out of their league in this case, but we got Personas. Yosuke and I can handle this," the silverhaired boy said in confidence.

"I'm helping too," Chie said in enthusiasm, earning a surprised look from everyone else." I'm not gonna sit back and let someone throw people into a place like that. When we catch the culprit I'm gonna kick their ass," the green clad girl announced.

Yukiko thought for a moment. "Let me help too," the Amagi heiress said after a moment, surprising everyone. "I want to know who would hate me so much that they wanted to kill me," Yukiko said with conviction.

"Count me in as well," Viljam said looking surprisingly confident. "For all we know, I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time when I was kidnapped. But I'm so gonna show that culprit the eggs of a närhi, when we get him," The Finnish boy said puncuating the word närhi, earning a questioning look from the others. "Närhi is a type of bird. And do I really need to explain the meaning of that phrase," Viljam said, not bothering to explain a Finnish saying this time. Fortunately he didn't have to.

"What does bird eggs have to do with catching the culprit?" Except for Yukiko.

" It's a figure of speech," Viljam said hoping that Yukiko would leave it at that.

"Ok," Yukiko accepted surprisingly easily.

"Finland's weird figures of speech aside. We'll be happy to have you two join us," Yosuke said changing the subject. Much to Viljam's relief. "Let's catch this asshole together," the headphone wearing boy said, earning enthusiastic agreements from everyone.

Viljam looked at the noodle packs the girls had. "Aren't those done yet," the Finnish boy asked in curiosity. The girls had completely forgotten about their foods.

"Ohh! That's right. Chow time," Chie cheered as she and Yukiko opened the lids and started eating. Viljam was sniffing the air like a dog who had caught a scent. Viljam has never eaten noodles before, but now he wanted to have a taste so badly. Chie caught onto the look Viljam was giving at her food.

"You want to try, Nousku-kun," Chie asked, to which Viljam nodded faster than you'd think possible. Chie couldn't help but smile at the action.

"Just one bite," Chie said, before handing her pack over along with the chopsticks. Viljam had some difficulty with holding the sticks, but he managed to get one mouthful in. The Finnish boy was so tempted to try more, but he was able to restrain himself with great difficulty.

"Viljam approves," the boy said happily as he gave Chie her food back. This action caused Yosuke to sweatdrop.

"Viljam...approves," Yosuke questioned with a raised eyebrow. In response Viljam turned away in embarrassment. The headphone wearing boy soon turned his attention to Chie.

"Can I have just a tiny bite," Yosuke asked Chie hopefully.

"Hands off the soba, pal! Go get your own," Chie threatened, not willing to part with her food.

Yosuke was baffled at the answer,"You just gave him some," Yosuke complained while motioning towards Viljam. The Finnish boy had an innocent look.

Chie was about to retort, but she couldn't come up with anything to say for some reason. Also Yosuke had a pleading look on his face that was surprisingly effective. "Rrrgh...Fine. Just one bite you hear me," Chie relented, while handing her food over.

Yu was also feeling a little hungry, but he didn't dare to say anything. Viljam was also wondering what the food Yukiko was eating would taste like. Yukiko caught onto their looks.

"Would you two like to try some," Yukiko asked the boys. Viljam nodded rapidly, while Yu let out a 'Yes please'. Yukiko let the boys try her food. Viljam took a single mouthful again. He didn't like the tofu, but otherwise pretty good, also easier to resist. Yu on the other hand couldn't restrain himself.

Viljam was looking between the two boys and girls. He sensed that the other guys were digging themselves a hole and backed off behind the vent he had used as his seat.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Was the sentence that made Viljam flinch in his hiding spot. Sure enough the guys couldn't stop eating and Chie did not like. Yosuke and Yu handed the packs back in fright, but it was too late.

"You ate everything," Chie cried at the loss of her soba.

"M-my fried tofu," Yukiko said in heartbroken voice. Chie stood to her full height, which wasn't much compared to the two boys. Not that it made her any less intimidating.

"I hope you guys understand what this means," the green clad girl threatened, with a very dangerous look on her face. Yosuke quickly got on his knees, " W-w-w-w-wait! Stop! I'm sorry," the headphone wearing boy begged for mercy. "I-I'll buy you a steak! It'll be on me! Just please have mercy," The headphone wearing boy continued. Viljam would've laughed in his hiding spot if he wasn't afraid of the girls directing their wrath at him if he did.

"You hear me! The very best," Yosuke added hoping to save his skin.

"Steak," Chie said with a gleam in her eyes. Yukiko on the other hand was still saddened by the loss of her tofu. Chie turned towards her best friend. "Come on Yukiko. There's steak in it for us now," Chie said in an attempt to cheer her friend. "We can eat instant noodles any time we want," the green clad girl continued. Yukiko turned towards her friend.

"Well. If it isn't too fatty," Yukiko said still down. With that Chie turned towards the two offenders. "Alright we've reached the verdict! You two are to buy us steak," Chie said happily.

Viljam had a hard time holding his laughter in, when Chie started to ramble about filet, which sounded nice and expensive. Suddenly Viljam was grabbed by the back of his uniform jacket and pulled to everyone's view once again.

"You're pitching in too," said Yosuke who had pulled Viljam out of his hiding spot. The poor boy was shocked at having to pay for a crime the other two committed. "You're the ones who scarfed it all in," the finnish boy protested," I only took one mouthful. As difficult as it was," Viljam continued, mumbling the last part.

"Come on Nousku. You wouldn't mind helping us out would you," Yu asked trying to ease the soon to be burden on his wallet. This made the finnish boy unable to retort. On one hand he didn't like paying for crimes he didn't commit. On the other hand if he didn't pay these two will probably find an excuse to hate him.

Before Yosuke could add anything, Chie stomped on his foot. While Yosuke howled in pain, clutching his injured foot, Viljam stood as straight as he could, fearing what was coming. "Hanamura and Narukami-kun stole all of our food, while Nousku-kun only had a mouthful. Therefore Nousku-kun is innocent," Chie said, like she was judge in a courtroom. This action earned a disbelieving look from Yosuke, wide eyes from Yu and a sigh of relief from Viljam. "In fact," Chie added while having an evil smile, "Since you just tried to extort him, you'll have to buy a steak for Nousku-kun too," the green clad girl handed the new verdict. This caused Yosuke and Yu to fall on their knees in despair, while Viljam looked extremely happy.

"Chie-san is the best," Viljam cheered, causing Chie to radiate smugness.

 **(Junes. April 30th. Some time later)**

"Talk about great timing. We just started serving grilled steak today," Yosuke would've sounded more enthusiastic, if he didn't have to treat three people the said steaks. Yu did cover half of it, but what put the two guys down was that Chie was giving Viljam special treatmen. At least in their eyes. Viljam simply thought of how lucky he was.

"This better be good," the Finnish boy in question tried not to sound smug, but failed miserably. Viljam still couldn't believe his luck, when Chie sentenced the other guys to treat him to a steak too. What will the reprecussions be? Nah, he was in too good mood to worry about things like that.

"This isn't filet," Chie said clearly disappointed at not getting what she wanted. "Oh well. Steak is steak," the green clad girl sighed. " How about you Yukiko. Are you fine with this," Chie asked her friend.

"I'll eat it...I'm still mad though," Yukiko said still a little down.

Viljam was already eating his steak. Although he seemed to be restraining himself for some reason.

"How's your steak," Yosuke asked, still miffed at having to treat this guy.

"...It's edible," Viljam said simply, earning a blanched look from Yosuke.

"Edible? Just edible," Yosuke asked not believing his ears. Viljam just looked at Yosuke like he was being weird. Then a realization hit the Finnish boy.

"Oh right. You wouldn't know. I'm a picky eater, so when I say I can eat something, that usually means anyone can eat it," Viljam said earning a questioning look from everyone.

"In other words when you say something is edible, that would be a great complement," Yu guessed, where Viljam's explanation was going.

"Correct," Viljam said. Then the Finnish boy looked embarrassed for some reason,"When I say 'Viljam approves' then you can safely assume that something is delicious," The Finnish boy added with an embarrassed laugh. This explained Viljam's previous statement about the soba he tasted. With that out of Viljam's chest, the three ate their steaks.

"I got a question," Viljam said after finishing his steak. "Do we have any clues that would say who the killer is," the Finnish boy asked, gaining everyone's attention.

"Well if we go back to the first case. Mayumi Yamano might have been killed, because of her affair with council secretary. That would point towards Misuzu Hiiragi the enka singer," Yosuke explained to Viljam. The Finnish boy had no idea what an enka singer was, but he decided not to question it.

"Yeah, but Misuzu Hiiragi had a solid alibi. Besides, she already seemed to be separated from her husband," Chie pointed out. Viljam connected the dots. The enka singer must have been the council secretary's wife.

"You seem well informed," Yosuke noted. "Anyway, what about the second case? Saki-senpai... why was she targeted," Yosuke said, while his expression became slightly downcast.

"If I had to guess, I'd say the killer wanted her to shut up," Yu said, hoping that the conversation didn't depress Yosuke too much. This reminded everyone that Saki Konishi was the one who found Yamano's body in the first place.

"I doubt the killer would've left any evidence on the body that the police would notice. Much less a high school student," Yukiko contributed to the discussion. This was true. Police are trained to notice any possible evidence. A high school student noticing something they didn't would be a little strange.

"Hey there," Said a voice that caught everyone's attention. It was Adahi the young detective Chie nearly strangled once. " Dojima-san said that he would leave work on schedule. Could you pass that on to Nanako-chan," Adachi told Yu, who nodded in response. Viljam was a little confused on who this guy was.

"I'm sorry, who are you," Viljam asked the detective, earning the detectives attention.

"Ahh. I'm Tohru Adachi. Dojima-san's gofer...I mean, his partner," Adachi corrected himself hastily. Viljam remembered the scary detective he saw on his first day.

"Are you this busy every day," Yosuke asked the detective, who probably should've been at police station at this time of day.

"Huh? Well the public seems to get a charge out of these cases, but we can't leave it at that," Adachi said a little down. A light bulb went off in Chie's head.

"Sorry to butt in, but could it be that the killer targeted Saki-senpai to silence her," Chie asked the detective.

"Well. We are thinking along those lines. She was killed right after the announcer's body was found after all," Adachi was surprisingly willing to part with information. "If the killer was trying to silence her, there might have been something at the crime scene only she understood," the detective, who's intelligence was getting more and more questionable in Viljam's eyes, continued. "This would mean that the culprit was someone close to Konishi-san. Nothing like that points to Misuzu Hiiragi, so...Oh crap" Adachi cried the last part after realizing something. "Please forget I said all that. Dojima-san will flay me alive, if he finds out," Adachi begged the five, who we're sweat dropping at the spectacle. Adachi then straightened himself before putting on what he thought was reassuring authorative voice, "Relax, kids, the police are on the job.". With that the detective walked off.

"*sigh*You were right Hanamura. The police are useless," Chie sighed.

"How did this guy earn his badge? Was there a lottery on who would get the job," Viljam asked seriously, causing everyone to laugh. "What? It was a legitimate question," Viljam asked, not understanding what was so funny.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **Fun fact, the last part was based on the fact that I make the best jokes when I'm not even trying. When that happens, I don't always understand why it was so funny.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **Author's notes:**

 **Sorry about the delay. I'm finally losing my momentum, but like heck I'm gonna give up.**

 **Personally: I think this is my weakest chapter by far. I'll let you decide whether I'm right or not.**

* * *

 **(Tv World. May 1st. Daytime)**

Because Viljam and Yukiko need to have a feel for the tv world and a handle with using their personas, Yu had decided that the group would train in the tv world today. Besides it was Sunday, so the group had ample time to check that they had everything they needed. In addition they visited Daidara's shop to get the two some weapons. When Viljam picked a weapon for himself, the others were slightly worried, because they saw a weid gleam in his eyes.

Now the five have entered the tv world.

"Wow...This really is inside the tv," Yukiko said in wonder. Viljam too was looking around, though he couldn't see far because of the fog. Interesting fact, since it was Sunday the group were wearing normal clothes instead of their uniforms. Viljam was wearing a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. He was also wearing dark blue jeans and brown shoes. In other words the outfit his shadow wore. When the group questioned him on where he got the clothes his shadow wore. Viljam said that he had them from the beginning.

"Part of me thought that it was all just a dream, but here we are," The Finnish boy said. Teddie chose to appear at that moment.

"Are you feeling better, Yuki-chan," Teddie asked Yukiko. Viljam frowned at being forgotten. "I did what you said. I've been a good bear," Teddie said like a child who was waiting for a praise. Viljam couldn't stay mad at him.

"Oh, I see. Good boy," Yukiko praised the bear. Yosuke sweatdropped at the exchange.

"This guy is part of the reason, why we're solving the case," Yosuke informed the two newcomers. The second time Yu and Yosuke entered the Tv, the two had promised to help Teddie catch the culprit. Or actually, Teddie threatened that if they didn't help, he wouldn't let them out. The tv world can only be entered by persona users on their own, but without Teddie they can't leave. Though since then Teddie has been staying in the studio like area that acted as their lobby to keep the exit open.

"I and Nousku-kun are part of the group now too," Yukiko said smiling at the bear.

"I see, that's why I got these ready for you Yuki-chan," Teddie said, before giving Yukiko a pair of red framed glasses, which the girl put on immediately.

"Oh, so these are what everyone's wearing. Thank you, Teddie," Yukiko said, when she noticed that she could now see through the fog.

"What's with the glasses," Viljam asked in curiosity. At Viljam's question Teddie walked over to him.

"Without these glasses, you can't see through the fog," Teddie said as he handed Viljam white framed glasses. Viljam put the glasses on and saw that the bear was right.

"Wow. These are awesome. Thanks Teddie," Viljam said and scracthed the bear behind his ears. Teddie would've preferred a girl scracthing him, but Viljam knew where to scratch so the bear wasn't complaining.

"Hey, Ted. How come you have so many glasses," Chie asked in curiosity. At this Teddie turned towards Chie.

"An excellent question! Guess what? I'm the one who makes them," Teddie announced with pride. Everyone were surprised at this. "I've lived here for a looong time. So I came up with some ways to be comfortable," Teddie explained, while puffing his chest in pride.

"Don't you need a pair?" it was Viljam who asked the bear in curiosity.

"Ahha! Another excellent question. Listen to this: My eyes themselves are lenses," Teddie said, like it was news of the century. "You didn't know," Teddie mock asked.

"Of course not," Yosuke said completely disinterested, shocking the bear.

"Why are you being so mean," Teddie asked frowning, which looked cute to Viljam. "See how smoothly my fingers move," Teddie said, while moving the tips of his fingers. Sadly, since his hands were practically mittens, you couldn't actually tell if he had fingers at all.

"What am I even looking at," Yosuke shouted and pushed Teddie, who just literally bounced back up with a yelp.

Yukiko picked up something that Teddie dropped when Yosuke pushed him. Teddie looked at what Yukiko picked up. "Oh. That's a pair I kinda screwed up," Teddie said slightly embarrased. Yukiko just had a strange smile as she switched glasses. They were gag glasses, with fake nose and fake mustache, or very long nose hair if you want to think that way.

"How do I look," Yukiko asked laughing a little. Chie face palmed, Yosuke was amazed and Viljam was holding back laughter.

"They look great," Yu said with a poker face, that made Chie and Yosuke to look at him questioningly. Viljam on the other hand couldn't stop his laughter anymore.

"Ahhahah! Awesome," Yukiko said laughing too. " I want to wear this one. It even has a nose guard," Yukiko said, causing Viljam to laugh harder.

"Oh no you won't," Chie protested, while Yosuke was questioning Yukiko's common sense.

"How beary unfortunate," Teddie said, " That pair doesn't have the right lenses. Guess I should've made an actual pair," Teddie lamented at his lack of foresight.

"Aww, too bad," Yukiko said in disappointment, before turning to Chie. "Here. Chie your turn," Yukiko said while handing the gag glasses to Chie. The green clad girl accepted them with a grumble.

At the sight of Chie in the gag glasses Yukiko started laughing so hard that she was clutching her stomach. Viljam on the other hand had to support himself on his knees with his laughing.

"Ehhehheh, en kestä kihihhhiihh," Viljam laughed so hard that for a few moments he couldn't even make a sound. Yukiko was laughing just as hard.

"Umm. Amagi-san? Helloo," Yosuke called Yukiko to no avail.

"Nousku. You okay," Yu tried with Nousku, with equal success.

"I never thought someone else could have a laughing fit as bad as Yukiko," Chie complained at no one in particular. Chie switched back her own glasses and threw the gag ones away. This caused Yukiko to stop laughing while looking sadly at the direction the glasses flew in.

"Chie, how could you," Yukiko asked her friend sadly, causing Chie to feel horrible. Viljam on the other hand didn't stop laughing, but no one was paying attention to him anymore.

"Don't worry, Yuki-chan. I can make new ones," Teddie said comfortingly. This thankfully brought Yukiko out of her sorrow. At this moment Viljam started to sound like a walrus, annoying Chie.

"URRGHH! When will you stop, you-," Chie's yell was interrupted when she noticed something that made her and everyone else worried. The walrus like noise Viljam was making wasn't laughter, it was coughing. The finnish boy's hand dove into his pocket to fish out his inhalator. After Viljam's breathing settled he was able to speak again.

"Sorry about that. Too much laughter triggers an asthma attack," Viljam explained like it was normal.

"Are you sure you'll be alright for fighting," Yu asked in slight worry. It would be bad if Viljam had an asthma attack during a fight. The enemies won't stand back for the finnish boy to use his inhalator.

"Yeah. My medicine arrived from home. With it, my lungs should last longer," Viljam explained in confidence. With that everyone moved on, but they agreed to keep an eye on Viljam's condition.

 **(Few minutes later)**

"Agi!" and another shadow was burned by Yukiko's persona. The team has been moving around in Yukiko's castle allowing Viljam and Yukiko to get a feel for their personas. So far it has been revealed that Konohana Sakuya can use fire magic and healing spells. While Louhi can use ice magic and ailments.

"Tentarafoo!" and a small group of shadows were attacking each other in confusion. Courtesy of Viljam's persona

"This is fun," Viljam exclaimed and swung his weapon at a shadow that was attacking it's ally. The weapon in question is a kusarigama, or chain sickle. Viljam was drawn to the weapon like a magnet when he saw it at Daidara's.

Yukiko swiped at a shadow with her fan. Yes fan. Although the fan's frame was made of metal and it was surprisingly harmful against shadows.

The other three team members were standing back, but ready to help should the two need it.

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that Nousku's persona is a woman," Yosuke joked. The group still found it weird that Viljam's persona was female, although Yu had a few female personas. When they tried to ask if Viljam knew why his persona was female, he only said he didn't want to talk about it.

"Does he secretly hate being a guy," Chie wondered aloud.

"I HEARD THAT," Viljam yelled, causing Chie to flinch.

"If you must know, then this is my idea of a great woman," Viljam said blushing. The others weren't sure how to take this information. When Chie looked at Viljam's persona, she noted that the only exposed skin on the persona was the lower half of it's face, neck and forearms. The furs were covering the persona's figure pretty well. If this was Viljam's idea of a great woman, Chie could live with it.

"You're not so different from normal guys after all," Yosuke said with a smirk.

"What's a normal guy," Viljam asked Yosuke, who gave the Finnish a blanched look. Yosuke would've continued this banter if Yu hadn't noticed something.

Nousku! Behind you," Yu yelled, but it came too late. A shadow snuck up on Louhi and bit the persona, causing Viljam to scream in agony.

"Viljam's persona is weak to physical attacks," Teddie informed. Everyone gave a surprised look to Louhi, who was already starting to crackle.

"Save him, Konohana Sakuya," Yukiko ordered her persona, which sent another agi at the offending shadow. The shadow quickly dissolved. Viljam was on his knees clutching the same area where Louhi was bitten.

"Dia!" rang out and Konohana Sakuya healed Viljam and by extension Louhi.

"Seriously!? You'd think those furs would actually give protection from physical attacks," Yosuke complained.

"Sorry," Viljam apologized ashamed.

Yu walked to the Finnish boy. "Don't blame yourself. We didn't know," the silver haired boy said, while patting the boys back. With those encouraging words Viljam got up.

"Mabufu," Viljam suddenly exclaimed and Louhi sent a freezing wave at a group of shadows that were approaching.

"Maragi," Yukiko followed suit and her persona sent a wave of fire at another group of shadows.

"We should head back now," Yu said as he noticed that Viljam and Yukiko were a little tired.

 **(Back at the entrance)**

"Now we know that Nousku isn't suited for front lines," said Yu, which depressed Viljam a little.

"I think it's best that he and Amagi-san stand back," added Yosuke which made Viljam slump more.

"Also I can use ice magic too and Nousku-kun's ailments aren't that useful," Chie said not noticing Viljam's mood

"Well sorry for being so worthless," Viljam shouted, hurt from all the criticism. Viljam doesn't take anything that would be classified as a failure too well. The three critics felt guilty of making the Finnish boy feel bad.

"His ice magic is stronger than Chie-chan's," Teddie pointed out helpfully. This improved Viljam's mood a little.

"That's true. Also if he practices with his weapon he might be good bodyguard for Amagi-san," Yu added.

"I can take care of myself. Nousku-kun doesn't have to protect me if he doesn't want to," Yukiko said, not wanting to be a bother.

"It's fine," Viljam said earning everyone's attention. "The sidelines are all that I'm good for anyway," the finnish boy said with a sigh. Viljam then turned towards Teddie. "Can you do me a favor," Viljam asked the bear, who nodded. "Can you switch the lenses on my glasses to be blue, preferably azure," Viljam asked the bear, while giving his glasses to the bear.

"Sure, but why," Teddie asked, earning a smile from Viljam.

"I'll tell you when you're done," Was all the Finnish boy was willing to reveal. With that Teddie got to work.

"So, aside from practicing with our personas, we should do some physical training," Yu piped up, earning everyone's attention. This made everyone thoughtful.

Yosuke was the one to speak first, "Well I do work at Junes, and moving some of the merchandise can be classified as lifting weights," was what the headphone wearing boy said.

"I already train alot, so I should be fine," Chie said confidently, though she was thinking about training harder. After all, if more powerful shadows appeared, she needs to kick even harder. Yukiko looked a little hesitant. She wasn't sure if she was able to train. After all, she needed to help at the Inn. Viljam on the other hand was clearly down. The Finnish boy thought he was too weak to get stronger. Also physical extertion might trigger an asthma attack.

"What about you Nousku? Any ideas how you will train," Yu asked the Finnish boy, who started to feel uncomfortable.

"...I...can't," Viljam said with difficulty, causing everyone to gain question marks. "The capabilities my body has now is my limit. I can't improve," Viljam clarified, earning a blanched look from Yosuke and Chie.

Yu on the other hand had a questioning look. "Why can't you improve," the silverhaired boy asked, making Viljam increasingly uncomfortable.

"I just can't," Viljam said, trying to avoid revealing the truth. At this point Yosuke gained a look of realization.

"Let me guess. Because of your asthma, you can't train," Yosuke guessed. Judging by Viljam's panicked expression, the headphone wearing boy hit the nail on the head. Viljam could only nod. The situation would've been funny if Viljam's depression didn't feel contagious.

"Come on. There has to be a pace that's good for you," Chie said carefully. Viljam didn't react. A lightbulb went off in Yu's head.

"Satonaka-san, why don't you try training with him," Yu suggested causing everyone, including Viljam, to look at Yu like he was crazy.

"Chie-san shouldn't waste her time on someone like me." It was Viljam who said that. This earned Chie's attention, who didn't like the way Viljam phrased that.

"What's that supposed to mean," Chie asked in annoyance.

"I'm hopeless," Viljam said not understanding what Chie didn't understand about his statement.

"You won't know unless you try," it was Yosuke who said that, surprising everyone. "I mean I can imagine Satonaka being a drill sergeant, but I'm sure she can improve you somehow," the Junes boy continued, earning an annoyed look from Chie at the drill sergeant comment.

"What if I trained with you two," said Yu, when he noticed that Viljam wasn't convinced. "I will make sure Satonaka-san will work you within your limits," the silver haired boy added encouragingly. This action made Viljam look between Yu and then Chie. On one hand he could get Chie frustrated at his own incompetence, but on the other hand, if the training actually reaped something then he might not be a hindrance.

"Alright. I'll try," Viljam said with what he thought was confidence, but others took as nervousness.

At that moment Teddie decided to pipe up. "And done," said the bear as he handed over the glasses with blue lenses, which Viljam accepted happily. " Now why did you want blue lenses," Teddie asked curiously. Viljam didn't want to answer because he thought it was embarrassing, but he kinda promised the bear.

"Blue and white are the colors of Finland's flag," Viljam said embarrassed. Everyone chuckled at that.

"You really like your home," Yu commented.

"Yeah. But also I thought blue lenses would look cooler," Viljam said as he tried the glasses. The lenses color actually hid his eyes so well, you can't see them unless you're looking inches away from him. Not that anyone tried. "How do I look," Viljam asked while smiling a little. Yu and Yosuke gave nods of approval, while Yukiko's and Chie's cheeks took a near unnoticeable shade of pink. No one noticed though.

With that the five have made plans to train sometime one way or another and returned.

 **(Junes. May 3rd. Daytime)**

It was the Constitution Day, meaning that the students had a day off from school. Chie decided that she wanted to hang out with everyone. Yukiko was easy to convince, though she had to help a little at the Inn before going. Viljam was a little hesitant to go, but decided he didn't have anything better to do. Finally Chie went to Yu's house to invite him to join.

Now the foursome were sitting in and Yosuke were sitting at Junes food court. Yosuke was working at Junes, but was now on the break. There was also Nanako Dojima, Yu's cousin. Yu didn't want to leave the little girl alone in the house so he and Chie took her with them.

"Why'd you bring Nanako-chan to a place like this on Golden Week," Yosuke asked Yu and Chie.

"Where else is there to go," Chie retorted.

"She's right you know," Viljam decided to speak his mind. Viljam himself didn't mind much. After all, there aren't many places you could go back in his hometown. Not to mention, as far as the Finnish boy thinks, Inaba is about the same size as his home.

"I love Junes," Nanako piped up, surprising everyone but Yu. Yosuke looked so happy he could burst into tears. "But we were supposed to go on a real trip somewhere," Nanako said slightly depressed. Dojima had promised earlier in the week that he would take the 4th and 5th day off from work, but he broke that promise. Yu still couldn't help but frown when he remembered Nanako's sorrowful look. "We were going to make boxed lunches," Nanako added. Nanako's sorrowful expression brought sympathy from everyone especially Viljam. Unbeknownst to others Viljam had a soft spot for anything he regarded as cute. A trait he shares with his sisters.

"You can make boxed lunches?" it was Viljam who asked that question in amazement. Nanako shook her head and pointed towards Yu.

"Oh, so you're the family cook then? Pretty impressive 'big bro'," Chie said jokingly, causing Viljam to chuckle and Yu looked slightly embarrassed. Nanako on the other hand had a thoughtful look.

"Well you do seem capable," Yosuke said slightly impressed, though Viljam had a questioning look.

"Why is it so impressive," the Finnish boy asked out of curiosity, earning a look from Yosuke.

"What do you mean? Guys rarely know how to cook," Yosuke told the Finnish boy. Now Viljam had an annoyed look.

"It's not that rare. I mean, give me a recipe and I can make anything relatively simple," Viljam said like it was a fact, earning surprised looks. While Viljam does know how to follow some simple recipies, he doesn't think it's anything to brag about.

"I can cook too," Chie announced earning an interested look from Viljam. "I would've whipped some boxed lunches if you had asked," the green clad girl added, though she seemed nervous towards the end.

Yosuke gave Chie a flat look. "Yeah, lemme think about-No," Yosuke said earning questioning looks from Viljam and Yu. Chie on the other hand was annoyed.

"What makes you think I can't cook? Let's have a cook-off and you'll see," Chie challenged Yosuke, who gained a smug look for some reason.

"My my, doth the lady protest too much," Yosuke asked mockingly, earning a frown from Viljam. "And I never said I cooked, but I'd probably win anyway," the headphone wearing boy added with a smirk.

Suddenly Yukiko laughed. "Ahhah. I can understand that," the black haired girl said while laughing. Chie was shocked at her best friends betrayal. Yu and Viljam weren't sure what to say in this situation.

"Nanako-chan can be our judge," Yosuke said cheerfully. "I bet we could make something that ranks up with your mom's cooking," the headphone wearing boy added.

"I don't have a mom. She died in an accident," Nanako said earning shocked looks from all but Yu. Now Yosuke felt bad.

"Umm. I'm sorry," Yosuke apologized.

Nanako instantly perked up. "It's okay. I still have dad, and now a brother too," Nanako said, blushing at the last part. Viljam looked at Yu in jealousy. While the Finnish boy does have a younger sister, he never acted like the older sibling. At least in his opinion. "And I'm having a lot of fun here. I love Junes," Nanako said happily.

"We can hang out with you anytime you want Nanako-chan," Chie said while giving a big smile.

"Yeah, we should hang out more often," Yukiko added. This was followed by various agreements from Yosuke and Viljam, though Viljam seemed a little down.

Yosuke then went to get some soda and asked if Nanako wanted to get some. The little girl got up and went with Yosuke leaving the other four.

"She's a strong girl," Yukiko commented.

"Yeah, she makes me feel like I'm the little kid here," Chie added, causing Viljam to chuckle. This made everyone turn to him.

"What?" It was Yu who asked what made Viljam chuckle.

"Nothing," Viljam said with his head tilted down.

"We're not buying that," said Yukiko who was gazing at Viljam sternly. A little something Yukiko learned. The only way to make Viljam speak up, was to ensure that he understood that he couldn't weasel out.

Viljam caved in with a sigh. "You think you feel like a little kid? Nanako-chan and Yu-san remind me too much of how I'm a failure as an older brother," Viljam said, which gave everyone question and exclamation marks. "When Linnea and I went to store together, she did the actual grocery shopping while I was just there looking like a mindless drone," Viljam said in self-depreciation. Everyone were a little surprised at this. Chie and Yu did hear what his shadow said, but they thought it was just exaggerating.

"How old is Linnea-chan," Yu asked surprising Viljam.

"Why does it matter," Viljam asked not understanding the point.

"Linnea-san looked our age," Yukiko said surprising Chie and Yu, while Viljam looked a little shocked that Yukiko revealed it. "Viljam introduced me to his family in a video chat," Yukiko explained to the surprised duo.

"Take a year and half," Viljam said in defeat, earning questioning look from Chie. "Linnea is a year and half younger than me," Viljam clarified, giving Yu a look of realization.

"The situations can't be compared," Yu said earning a blanched look from Viljam. "Nanako-chan is eight years old. While her maturity is impressive I don't think it's normal. Linnea-san on the other hand is expected to be mature, so of course she wouldn't cling to her brother," Yu explained.

Viljam blinked once, twice and then he chuckled good naturedly. "Now I feel dumb. Linnea is very independent. The fact that she easily outranks me and Maria in cooking speaks in itself," Viljam said smiling. Chie and Yukiko were slightly surprised at the part of Linnea being supposedly good cook.

"How good would you say Linnea-san is at cooking," Chie asked in curiosity.

Viljam actually smirked at the question, "She cooked a three course meal once for our family of five, although the appetizers weren't exactly in my taste," Viljam said with pride. Chie's jaw dropped, while Yukiko looked surprised.

"Umm. Is there a reason your little sister is such a great cook," Chie asked unsure of whether Viljam was bragging or not.

Viljam had a thoughtful look on his face. "Not really. The three of us usually helped mom cook sometimes, then I think Linnea started to try things herself. Usually with great success, especially when it was something sweet," Viljam explained, while having a dreamy look at the last part.

Chie decided to get something for Nanako too and Yukiko followed suit. Yu and Viljam stayed behind.

"You sound proud of your little sister," Yu commented about Viljam explaining his younger sisters cooking skills.

Viljam had a forlorn look. "Yeah. And now that I think about it, I remember Linnea once telling me that her friends were jealous of me being her brother. I'm not sure why, but I felt like I did something right back then," Viljam said. Yu could sense the adoration the boy had for his family.

Viljam looked towards Yu who had a frown on his face for some reason. Before the FInnish boy could ask Nanako ran back to them. "Do you want something too," Nanako asked Yu, who nodded with a smile. Yu then got up and went with Nanako, with Viljam following suit.

 **(Samegawa Flood Plain. May 4th. Daytime.)**

It was another holiday where there was no school, however, Viljam had a slight problem. Chie and Yu were planning to train together, and they asked if the Finnish boy could join them. Viljam honestly didn't want to, but sadly Yukiko threatened to put him into some very uncomfortable work if he didn't.

So here they were at the flood plain. Viljam had decided to wear a sweatpants and black walking shoes. Complete with a loose black T-shirt, since the wheather was a warm, at least to him.

"Now then let's start with ten push ups," Chie told Viljam, who gave the girl a blanched look. Viljam was ashamed to admit that he can't do a _single_ push up, but he tried anyway.

Chie couldn't believe her eyes. She knew Viljam wasn't an athlete, but she didn't know that he couldn't even make a single push up. Yu was just as surprised to see how frail Viljam was. Granted the silverhaired boy wasn't a star athlete in his opinion, but he could still do more than one push up. "Are you SERIOUS," Chie asked in utter disbelief. "I didn't think there existed a guy who can't do one push up," the green clad girl continued, not understanding how her words were affecting.

"Sorry for existing then," Viljam said in a defeated tone.

Yu was having none of it. "We're not giving up now," Yu said encouragingly. Though in reality he was thinking how to increase Viljam's strength now. The closest thing he could come up with was lifting weights, but he didn't own any.

"I guess I'll have to bring weights for you next time," Chie lamented, unknowingly answering Yu's problem.

"You own weights," Viljam asked in curiosity.

"Yeah I needed to train my arms a little. How else could I do handstands," Chie explained. Viljam was about to ask why she needed to do handstands, but then he remembered a scene from a movie he once watched. A guy was standing on his hands while spinkicking his opponents. Viljam couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What," Chie asked annoyed.

"Just picturing you, doing a spinkick while handstanding," Viljam said trying not to smile. Unfortunately for Viljam, Chie thought the image Viljam had involved her wearing a skirt. Chie kicked Viljam on reflex, causing the boy to fall on his knees in pain.

"What was that for," Viljam cried while clutching his abdomen. While Chie was just huffing at Viljam, Yu figured out what Chie thought the boy meant.

"Satonaka-san, I'm pretty sure Viljam didn't mean whatever you thought he meant," Yu came to Viljam's defense. This only caused Chie to glare at the silverhaired, boy who wisely shut up.

Their attention was turned to Viljam when they heard a sniffle. Viljam was trying to stop tears coming out, but even if he could do that his poorly suppressed sobs gave it away.

"Don't try that with me. I'm not buying it," Chie said sternly, thinking he was faking it, causing Viljam to cry harder.

Viljam isn't used to getting beaten in any shape or form. His parents never used physical violence as a form of discipline. All they had to do was use a harsh tone and an angry face, to keep him in line. In fact getting hurt by someone was on the top five things he feared.

"Satonaka-san, I don't think he's faking," Yu told Chie while approaching Viljam.

"Can you stand," Yu asked cautiously and Viljam responded by slowly getting up. Chie was feeling increasingly bad for kicking him, but wasn't showing it. She was still skeptical for someone crying so easily. After all men don't cry.

Viljam whispered something in Yu's ear that made silverhaired boy's eyes widen in surprise. "You're serious," Yu asked Viljam, who nodded in response. Yu turned towards Chie with a sigh. "Nousku wants to know why you hate him so much," Yu said slightly embarrassed that Viljam was too afraid to speak to Chie directly.

Of all the things Chie expected, this wasn't one of them. "What do you mean hate? He can't be that hurt from one kick," Chie complained, but at the increasingly hurt look on Viljam's face, she was starting to doubt her own words.

Viljam whispered something to Yu's ear, who nodded in understanding. "He said physical violence is only used on the people you truly hate," Yu explained what Viljam whispered.

Chie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She kicks Yosuke all the time, but that doesn't mean she hates him. Also Yosuke hasn't complained about them that much. "Ohh come on Hanamura takes my kicks all the-" "I AM NOT YOSUKE!" Viljam yelled interrupting Chie's defense. Viljam finally found the courage to speak up. "He might be used to your abuse, but*sob* someone like me*sob* who has never*hiccup* been beaten in his life*sniffle* just can't take it," Viljam cried not even trying to suppress his sobbing anymore. After letting all of that out, Viljam was able gain some control."You can laugh now," Viljam said surprising both Chie and Yu.

"What do you mean," Yu asked in confusion.

Viljam sighed. "Men don't cry right. So go ahead and laugh," Viljam said bracing himself for the inevitable laughter. It never came.

"I'm sorry," Chie said surprising Viljam. "I guess...I'm too used to kicking Hanamura," the green clad girl continued. "But I still don't like that you were imagining looking under my skirt," Chie said, earning a confused look from Viljam.

"But you're wearing shorts," Viljam pointed out, causing Yu to chuckle. Indeed, since Chie was wearing her casual outfit, she was wearing shorts not a skirt.

"You know what I mean," Chie said annoyed. Viljam wracked his brain for what Chie could mean, but came empty handed.

"No, I don't," Viljam said utterly confused.

This was the third time today that Chie couldn't believe what was happening. Was this guy dense, or innocent? Either way Chie now felt really bad for kicking Viljam for essentially nothing.

"Doesn't matter," Chie quickly said, giving Yu some more amusement. "Is there anything you'd want as an apology," Chie finally said, but regretted her wording. What if he wanted something she was sure Yosuke would love to have. Which was something Chie was afraid to even think about. However before Chie could take back her words Yu decided to chime in.

"Nousku, did Satonaka-san ever buy you that steak skewer," Yu asked the Finnish boy, who gained a look of realization.

"I forgot about that! Thanks for reminding," Viljam thanked Yu. Chie was momentarily confused what the silver haired boy meant, but then she remembered the bet Viljam won.

"URGH. Fine," Chie agreed grudgingly. Yu suddenly had a lightbulb go off.

"How about this. If Viljam can get through this training session without a single complaint, Satonaka-san will buy him four steak skewers," Yu said earning a look of horror from Chie and a happy one from Viljam. Chie was about to complain, but when she saw Viljam's happy face, she couldn't bring herself to do it. So she agreed again grumbling. Besides considering the worst case scenario she thought of, this was preferable.

Now that Yu had found a suitable motivator for Viljam, they could properly start their training.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **The training portion kind of wrote itself.**

 **I think Viljam finally needed some bad luck, although he did get at least one steak skewer out of it in the end.**

 **To those who remember. I'm not that much of a wuss...at least I think I'm not.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 **Author's notes:**

 **I'm glad someone thought the previous chapter was funny.**

 **I finished this chapter pretty fast in my opinion, because I had a lot of fun writing it.**

* * *

 **(Amagi Inn. May 5th. Daytime)**

Chie was feeling guilty. Not about the fact that she made Viljam cry, but the fact that Viljam was now bedridden. Yu's plan to motivate Viljam had a flaw. Viljam had his own definition of complaining, meaning that even the slightest word of discomfort classified as whining. This meant that Viljam continued until Chie and Yu said they were done, but that meant Viljam working way past his limits. By the time Chie declared that they were done, Viljam finally succumbed to his exhaustion. The guy was unable to walk, so Chie and Yu were forced to carry him, much to Viljam's embarrassment. On top of which Viljam didn't get his steak skewers, because all three forgot about them.

Chie felt like she had pushed Viljam too far in hopes that he would complain and she would only have to get him one skewer. The green clad girl was also impressed that Viljam would go so far to get some meat in his mouth. That's why Chie had bought the steak skewers before going to Amagi Inn. Earlier in the day Yukiko had called Chie and scolded her on pushing Viljam to the point where he can't even get up from his futon. Every muscle in Viljam's body was supposedly crying in protest when he so much as breathed.

Now Chie was standing in front of Viljam's room carrying a small paper bag. Chie hesitated for one last moment, before she knocked.

"Sisään." rang out from the room. Chie wasn't sure what it meant, so she didn't know if she was supposed to do something. "Sorry. I said, come in," Viljam's voice said again. This time the message was clear and Chie entered the room. There Viljam was in his futon, but unlike last time Chie was able to see Viljam's face clearly. "Oh. Hi Chie-san. What brings you here," Viljam asked the girl, but he had frown for some reason.

"Umm. Yukiko told me that you were unable to move, so I thought I'd bring you the steak skewers I promised," Chie said, causing Viljam to smile widely. Viljam tried to get up, but winced immediately and gave up on the attempt.

"Au. Sorry, but could you bring them over here I can't move without excruciating pain," Viljam asked in embarrassment. Chie could sympathize with Viljam's situation. The thought of not being able to move was not a pleasant one. The time Viljam's shadow paralyzed her legs was a terrifying experience, thank you very much.

"Yeah, sorry about not taking your limits into account," Chie apologized for her lack of care for Viljam's well being. Even when Yu took a share of the blame, since he was supposed to see that Chie kept the training within Viljam's limits, she didn't feel any less guilty.

"It's fine. I'm the idiot who didn't listen to his body," Viljam replied easily. "But the way you were willing to bet a steak skewer that day, made me want one desperately. And now I pay the price," the Finnish added without so much as a twitch under his covers.

Chie instantly smiled as she heard Viljam's willingness to try the skewers. "Well. Now's your chance," Chie said while sitting next to Viljam and opening the bag that contained five steak skewers. One that Viljam won from the bet and the four he was promised for not complaining.

Viljam was about to reach for the treats, but he kept wincing at the slightest movement he tried with just his arm. The Finnish boy had a miserable look on his face. "I never thought I'd say this, but could you please feed me," Viljam asked while blushing in shame of his helplessness.

Chie was a little taken back by the request. She was waiting for Viljam to say he was kidding, but it never came. At Viljam's pleading look, Chie finally relented and took a single skewer out and brought it close to Viljam's mouth. The Finnish boy bit down on the treat and munched the meat becoming happier with every chew.

"You know. I feel like I'm feeding a sick child," Chie suddenly said, causing Viljam to frown.

"Try from my perspective. So helpless that I can't even feed myself. I don't remember being this helpless since the time my eyes were glued shut," Viljam said, shocking Chie greatly.

"What!? You got glue in your eyes," Chie cried in shocked horror. Viljam blinked once, twice and then laughed, but the laughter was cut short by his aching body.

"Nothing that severe. I just woke up one day and couldn't open my eyes. Probably tearfluids drying between my eyelids in my sleep," Viljam explained in amusement.

Chie had a skeptical look on her face. "So...How did you get your eyes open," Chie asked wondering how something like that could happen.

"I don't remember," Viljam answered, giving Chie a disbelieving look. "That happened when I was pretty small, so it's a bit of a blur," Viljam clarified, while Chie was beginning to wonder if Viljam was just making this up.

In the end Chie decided to ask something else. Something that she was almost afraid to ask, because Viljam might be offended. "Nousku-kun. Umm...Has anyone told you that you might act...childish sometimes," Chie asked carefully. Viljam only stared at Chie for a moment.

"Honestly: Yes. I know I am childish, I can't help it. But I like to think that I know when to act my 'age' when the situation calls for it. Besides if maturity means being boring, I'd rather never grow up," Viljam explained, chuckling at the last sentence. Chie was about to retort, until she realized that the last sentence was a joke. Chie couldn't help but giggle a little in agreement. Chie soon started to stare at Viljam's face with an intensity that made Viljam uncomfortable. "Umm...Chie-san," Viljam questioned.

"Is it just me or are your cheeks bigger," Chie asked the crippled boy. Then Chie noticed the distinct movement of Viljam's jaw. He was chewing. During the conversation, Chie had absentmindedly kept feeding him the remaining steak skewers, while Viljam was able take a bite between each sentence. "Have you been storing what you eat in your cheeks," Chie asked in bafflement. Viljam looked embarrassed and his cheeks noticeably shrunk as he swallowed.

"Sorry, but it was the only way I could talk without you having to see me chew. I call it hamster technique," Viljam said, but then he blushed as he accidentally revealed the name he gave that stunt when he was six years old.

Chie wasn't sure how she should react. Be disgusted at Viljam for talking with his mouth full. Get angry, for the same reason. In the end Chie settled with the third option: Laughing, at the ridiculous yet so fitting name. Also Chie wouldn't say it outloud, but she also thought that Viljam's puffed cheeks looked kinda cute.

"Please stop," Viljam pleaded to no avail. "I know that was stupid, but please stop laughing," Viljam pleaded again, but Chie wouldn't stop. The Finnish boy wanted nothing more than to pull his head under his blanket, but even turning his head caused some of his back and torso muscles to whine in protest.

Chie was finally able to gain some self control. "You really are funny at the weirdest times," Chie said while patting Viljam's head, who was not amused. "Oh don't look at me like that you almost make me feel like I'm the villain here," Chie joked. "By the way were the skewers any good," Chie asked changing the subject, much to Viljam's relief.

"Viljam highly approves," Viljam said happily, causing Chie to giggle.

"I hope you get to move soon," Chie told Viljam, who realized something.

"By the way I might need your phone number," Viljam said, surprising Chie.

"Umm...I'm not sure if I'm ready for that," Chie said, earning a confused look from Viljam.

"What do you mean? If I find out something new about the case, I might need to contact you," Viljam asked, not understanding what Chie meant.

The girl in question now felt stupid for thinking that Viljam would hit on her. Actually considering the boys behaviour yesterday and today, she wasn't sure if he even knew what 'hitting on someone' meant. "Of course, so where's your phone," Chie asked quickly, while Viljam simply looked to Chie's right. Chie turned to the direction and there was Viljam's phone right next to her. Chie quickly picked it up and the two exchanged numbers.

"Well. I should go now. See ya," Chie said quickly and got up to leave.

"Nähdään," Viljam called after her. The girl didn't need a translation to guess what that meant.

 **(Yasogami High. May 7th. After School)**

It was surprising for Chie and Yu, that Viljam was able to come to school already. Although he still couldn't walk as fast as he was used to. Yosuke couldn't stop laughing when he heard that Chie worked Viljam to the point of immobility. Chie didn't bother to kick the headphone wearing boy for a change. She was just happy that Viljam was able to move again, even if it still hurt him somewhat.

Now the gang was sitting in and talking. Yosuke on the other hand had to go to the bathroom in a hurry. The conversation was interrupted by a rumbling sound. Viljam looked outside and saw the dark clouds.

"Ukkostaa," Viljam said nonchalantly. The other three stared at the boy. "I said: It's thundering," Viljam clarified in minor disbelief. He thought it was obvious what he meant.

"Hey Satonaka, I bought you a new Trial of the Dragon," Yosuke, who had come back, said as he put the new dvd case on Chie's desk. "It's a Greatest Punches version that cost only 980 yen. If I had known before, I'd have just replaced it instead of buying you a steak," Yosuke added.

Another rumble sounded out. This one a little louder. "This is clearly getting closer," Chie said with worry.

Yosuke got an amused look. "What are you, scared of a little lightning," the headphone wearing boy asked as he moved next to Yu's desk, which was out of kicking range.

"Quiet you! I'd be a goner if even one of those things hit me," Chie shouted. Yu was a little worried about Chie, while Viljam was worried that this would end in tears. Another lightning struck this one much louder, Chie actually shrieked and covered her ears.

Yosuke laughed at Chie's reaction. "Ohh come on you're freaking out way too much," Yosuke said clearly amused. "I mean shouldn't a weather like this help with your kung fu-,". "Yosuke, shut the faucet," Viljam interrupted Yosuke, surprising both Yosuke and Yu. Viljam quickly got off his seat and walked to Chie's side.

"Chie-san," Viljam called out earning Chie's attention. " We're inside four walls. The lightning can't get you in here," Viljam explained to Chie calmly, which was surprisingly effective.

"Aww. Two lovers brought together by the terror of lightning. As they embrace each other the lightning strikes at them," Yosuke joked, undoing Viljam's work.

"YOU JERK! You don't even care how I feel," Chie cried, while Viljam facepalmed at Yosuke's antics. Yu looked at his partner in disapproval. "If a lightning has to strike someone, let it be Hanamura," Chie added in an attempt to curse Yosuke. As soon as Chie said it, another lightning struck and this time lights went out. Various exclamations of surprise rang out followed by the sound of someone falling with a yelp.

"Huh? Is this a blackout," It was Yukiko who asked the obvious.

"That's what you get for saying that stuff Sat-...Where did she go," Yosuke asked. Sure enough, when everyone was temporarily blinded by sudden darkness Chie had disappeared from her seat and Viljam had also vanished.

"Down here." everyone heard Viljam's deadpan tone, as everyone's eyes adjusted. When everyone, including some of the students who were still in the class, heard Viljam, they turned towards the direction of his voice. As soon as they did, most people bursted out laughing. There on the floor was Viljam, and on his torso was Chie, who was hugging him, like her life depended on it. "Very funny. Laugh at someone's misery," Viljam said in deadpan tone. It was unclear whether he meant Chie's terror or his own predicament.

Surprisingly it was Yukiko who laughed the hardest." *ahhahah*Nousku-kun *ahhhahah* has become *ahhaha* Chie's *ahhah* safety blanket," Yukiko managed to say between laughs causing Viljam to blush at the comment. Chie on the other hand had her eyes tightly shut and was still oblivious to everything around her. Yosuke was laughing his ass off too. Even Yu was holding his head in laughter.

"Umm. Chie-san could you please get off me," Viljam asked Chie who didn't make any sign of acknowledgment. Viljam then tried to pry her off, but she just hugged harder, causing Viljam's still sore body to cry in protest. Finally a lightbulb went off in his head. "Chie-san, over there! Ten tons of free steak," Viljam exclaimed and this time Chie looked around in excitement. It didn't take long for Chie to realize that she was tricked, much less that everyone were laughing. Then Chie looked down and noticed what she was clinging onto. The green clad girl instantly jumped to her feet.

Before Chie could cry anything in protest Yosuke's phone rang. "It's from my manager," Yosuke said as he checked his phone, before answering. During the phone conversation, they noticed that Yosuke was becoming increasingly more distressed for some reason. Unbeknownst to the other four Yosuke was looking forward to a possible bonus from the produce section in Junes. Unfortunately, the last lightning strike shut the power from the produce sections in Junes forcing them to close them early and now Yosuke was asked to come quickly to help, but the Junes boy was more dismayed at the loss of his bonus. The headphone wearing boy glared at Chie, who had cursed him.

"What the hell're you looking at me for," Chie protested, visibly recovered. Viljam too had gotten up with some grimacing.

"I don't know what that call was about, but serves you right," Viljam said in annoyance.

Yosuke glared at the Finnish boy. "Oh come on a girl glomped you so you have no right to complain. You probably got a nice feel too," Yosuke said the last sentence with a laugh. The headphone wearing boy looked around him expecting people to laugh. Fortunately for Chie and Viljam people had lost interest in them. Yukiko frowned at Yosuke for making that kind of joke and Yu was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. Yosuke then turned his gaze towards Chie who's cheeks were red at the comment and Viljam was not amused.

"Ei naurata," Viljam said in a menacing tone. "Chie-san let's go before something else happens," Viljam said as he picked his pack. Chie picked her own pack and followed suit, leaving the other three behind.

"What just happened," Yosuke questioned the situation. As far as he was concerned Viljam should've been happy or freaking out about a girl glomping him.

"Nousku isn't your standard male," was all Yu said earning a confused look from Yosuke and a giggle from Yukiko. The power suddenly returned. Yukiko looked towards Chie's desk and noticed that she forgot the dvd Yosuke got her.

"I should get that to Chie, before she gets too far away," Yukiko said as she quickly took the dvd and went after Chie and Viljam. Pretty soon Yosuke had to hurry to his part-time at Junes and Yu too left to do his own things.

 **(Yasogami High. May 12th. After School)**

This week were the mid term exams from Tuesday to Thursday. Chie was a little distracted because of her little glomp towards Viljam. In contrast, the Finnish boy acted like nothing was wrong. Yosuke was tempted to tease the two about it, but Yu stopped him. While Yukiko just asked Chie later what hugging Viljam was like. The green clad girl didn't want to talk about it. Now however the gang was sitting in their classroom going over what each of them answered for the last test of the week.

"So, what did you write for number seven? The one about what 'that' referred to in the sentence," Chie asked Yukiko.

"Umm...I put 'her sorrowful expression.'," Yukiko said after thinking for a moment, causing Chie to slump down.

"Oh crap, then I got it wrong," Chie whined.

"Damn I was so close. I put 'miserable' instead of 'sorrowful'," Viljam complained too.

"Wait was that the correct one," Yukiko asked Viljam, who gave her a questioning look.

"Oh well I'll bet it all on geography," Chie said with determination. "What did you choose for the tallest mountain in the solar system," Chie asked Yu, Viljam was equally interested.

"Olympus mons," replied Yu causing Chie to panic as she though she put the wrong one herself.

"Oh I put that one too," Yukiko said happily.

"Me three," Viljam added with a relieved sigh. Yosuke then looked at Viljam in surprise.

"Ok I can understand Amagi getting the right answer, but I got the impression that you can't study," Yosuke complained at Viljam who looked guilty for a reason that wasn't even really his fault.

"All Nousku-kun really needed help with was reading," Yukiko came to Viljam's defense surprising Chie and Yosuke, even Yu was slightly curios.

"You helped Nousku study," Yu asked the Amagi heiress. Viljam decided to answer the question.

"I still have problems with reading japanese, so Yukiko-san helped me to undersand," Viljam replied while giving Yukiko a grateful look. The red clad girl answered with a smile. Well truthfully Viljam attempted to study, but he was unable to read some of the kanji's in his textbooks so he was about to give up. Then Yukiko happened to walk by and see Viljam's plight and she offered to help him.

"So how would you say you fared in the exams," Yosuke asked in curiosity.

"If I fail I'll eat my shoes," Viljam said in confidence. Causing Yukiko to laugh at the expression.

"*ahhah* shoes must taste*ahhaha* awful," Yukiko laughed, causing everyone else to sweatdrop.

"That aside I won't be looking forward to when they post our grades for everyone to see," Yosuke complained about the inevitable. This made Viljam snap to attention.

"What," Was the question the Finnish boy asked, surprising everyone.

"Haven't you heard? Our test scores will be posted in the hallway for everyone to see," Yosuke asked the Finnish boy who was now panicking. A system like that doesn't exist in Finland, so of course this felt like some sick joke to the Finnish boy. While Viljam was confident that he wouldn't fail, he was pretty sure that he would end on the bottom of the list.

"Voi minua. Kaikki nauravat minulle nyt! Mitä jos minua inhotaan, Chie varmaan potkii minut hengiltä! Yukiko häpeää minua! Yosuke pilkkaa minua loppuvuoden ja ties mitä Yu tekee jos reputan," Viljam hyperventilated, while the other four were utterly confused on what the Finnish boys was rambling about.

"Let's leave him alone," Yu said simply. Yosuke nodded in agreement, while Chie and Yukiko felt weird that Viljam left the honorifics out of their names. Then again, Finland probably doesn't have anything like them. As much as the girls wanted to calm the boy down they had no idea how to. So they followed Yu's advice.

The foursome's attention was then drawn towards a conversation two students had. Something about a Tv crew coming to make a story about local biker gang.

"A biker gang," Yukiko wondered.

"Yeah. They raise a ruckus from time to," Chie explained Yukiko. "I guess your place is too far away to hear them," the green clad girl added.

"We live by the road. The noise can drive you insane," Yosuke chimed in.

"I heard some guys from the school are actually part of the gang too," Chie added.

"Say what," asked Viljam who had recovered from his ramblings.

Yosuke decided to ignore Viljam and move on with the topic. "Yeah I heard there's a first year student here, who's a total hellraiser," Yosuke spoke giving Viljam something else to think about." One of the guys working at Junes said the dude's been a legend since middle school," The Junes boy continued.

This caught Yukiko's attention," D-did you say he was a legend," Yukiko asked excitedly, Causing everyone but Viljam to sweatdrop.

"Uhh. It's not what you think, Yukiko," Chie said, making Yukiko deflate somewhat.

"How is he a legend," Viljam asked in curiosity. "Did he execute rivals by driving over them with a spikewheeled motorcycle," the Finnish boy asked in excitement, making Yu, Yosuke and Chie question how Viljam's mind worked.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I was asked if Viljam's character was childish. I hope this chapter answers that.**

 **I honestly believe that being completely mature means not being able to enjoy life. So as far as I'm concerned being childish is healthy. Within reason of course.**

 **Translation:**

Voi minua. Kaikki nauravat minulle nyt! Mitä jos minua inhotaan, Chie varmaan potkii minut hengiltä! Yukiko häpeää minua! Yosuke pilkkaa minua loppuvuoden ja ties mitä Yu tekee jos reputan = **Poor me. Everyone will laugh at me! What if they hate me, Chie probably kicks me to death! Yukiko will be ashamed of me! Yosuke will mock me for the rest of the year and who knows what Yu does if I fail**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 **Author's notes:**

 **I wonder if I rushed this chapter? Meh**

 **The translations, for the Finnish portions will be found in the bottom Author's Notes. If you can't find it, I have deemed it not important.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. May 14th. After School)**

The classes for the day have just ended. The gang was still gathered in their class. Chie had checked outside the window.

"It's started raining. Guess the weather report was right," Chie said.

"That means the show's probably gonna be on tonight," Yosuke added. The weather report had said that the rain would last through the night. Meaning that the Midnight Channel would be on tonight.

"I hope we don't see anyone," Yukiko said, slightly worried.

"As much as I hope the same, I doubt we'll be that lucky," Viljam said with a sigh.

" But if we do see someone, we might see some kind of clue that might point towards the killer," Yosuke said in slight hope.

"Well everyone don't forget to check your Tv tonight," Chie said earning determined nods from everyone.

 **(Amagi Inn. May 14th. Evening.)**

Viljam was prepared. He had already put his futon down so he could go straight to sleep once the Midnight Channel is over. Viljamwas pretty surprised when Yu told him and Yukiko that the Midnight Channel shows the next murder victim. He was also surprised when he was told that when Yukiko was shown on Midnight Channel, there was a shadow behind her. Part of Viljam was miffed at himself being shown as a shadow, but then again maybe Yukiko was the primary target. Yu actually pointed out yesterday that aside from Viljam the victims had been female. Yosuke made a joke about the killer thinking Viljam was a girl, earning a lecture about how a spoon could be used to gouge someone's eyes or heart out from Viljam. The pale face of Yosuke made Viljam smile smugly.

A knock was heard from his door. "Come in," Viljam said, having learned from his mistake with Chie. Inside came Yukiko.

"Evening Nousku-kun," Yukiko greeted somewhat shyly, confusing Viljam for a moment.

"What is it," Viljam asked in curiosity. In the Finnish boy's opinion, Yukiko has no need for that kind of manners. Maybe it was a cultural thing and Yukiko was simply tolerating Viljam's lack of manners.

"Umm. Would you like to watch the Midnight Channel with me," Yukiko asked while covering her blushing cheeks.

"Uhh... Sure," Viljam said getting nervous from Yukiko's strange behavior. Viljam was planning to watch the show from his futon, but now he just picked up his blanket and sat on his couch which was barely big enough for two people. Viljam patted the spot next to him in invitation. Yukiko nervously sat down, while Viljam wrapped himself in the blanket.

"Is it...cold," Yukiko asked Viljam in nervousness.

"No... Why," Viljam asked with equal nervousness.

"Because you're wrapped in your blanket," Yukiko replied. This caused Viljam to laugh a little easing his tension.

"I just like being wrapped in a thick, soft blanket," Viljam said while rubbing a fistful of his blanket against his cheek in emphasis. The blanket in question wasn't all that thick, but it was still soft. Just the way Viljam loved it. Yukiko giggled at this behavior. Now she was wondering why she was so nervous before. Being in the same room with a boy was something she hadn't done before aside from helping Viljam study. Now she was sitting inches away from him and yet the Finnish boy didn't seem to mind.

Soon enough the small TV in Viljam's room lit up. The image was blurry and hard to discern who it was, but Viljam was pretty sure it was a guy. Yukiko was fascinated by the show, she had interest in horror movies or anything supernatural for that matter. Soon the image faded away leaving the screen black.

"So...who do you think that was," Viljam asked, causing Yukiko to focus on the Finnish boy.

"I'm not sure," Yukiko said while hanging her head a little. She felt slightly ashamed of not being able to tell who the person on the screen was. Suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her into a hug. Viljam was hugging Yukiko and had also wrapped her in his blanket with him. Yukiko instantly blushed at the treatment. "N-n-nousku-kun," Yukiko stuttered, as her blush was becoming increasingly distinct. After few seconds Viljam released the hug.

"Feeling better," Viljam asked, causing Yukiko to blink. A moment passed with Yukiko being unable to answer. Finally Viljam's face fell a little. "Don't you like hugs," Viljam asked worried that he did something wrong. Yukiko slapped her cheeks to gather her thoughts.

"N-no. It was just...sudden," Yukiko said as her heartbeat was slowing to normal again. "How could you do that so easily," Yukiko asked, since this was not the behavior of the nervous and easily scared boy she had learned to know during these few weeks.

"It's easy I do it all the time," Viljam answered easily. Yukiko's eyes widened in alarm.

"You, what," Yukiko asked in incredulity about Viljam hugging girls all the time.

"I hug my sisters all the time," Viljam clarified, oblivious to Yukiko's train of thought. Now Yukiko felt stupid. Of course Viljam has hugged his sisters at one point or another. That still made her wonder something.

"But why did you...hug me," Yukiko asked while blushing at the mention of a hug.

"You looked down and in my experience, hugs always help," Viljam said either not noticing or caring about Yukiko's red face.

"Ummm...Okay and thank you," Yukiko said when she realized that Viljam thought that her nervousness was because she was down. "But I'm not one of your sisters," Yukiko pointed out causing Viljam to give her a questioning look.

"Well, you are my host-sister, so I thought I should treat you like one," Viljam replied easily. Yukiko was surprised at Viljam's way of thinking. It made sense to her. Besides, he must be missing for his family and if she understood correctly, hugs are a daily occurrence in his family. The more she thought of it, Yukiko realized that the idea of having Viljam as a brother actually sounded fun. This caused Yukiko to giggle. "What," Viljam asked confused.

"Oh nothing," Yukiko said in embarrassment. She then got up. "We should go to sleep. Goodnight Nousku-kun," Yukiko said before scurrying away.

"Öitä," Viljam called after her, but Yukiko's head was in no condition of trying to figure out the meaning. With that Viljam, flopped himself on his futon, still wrapped in his blanket.

 **(Junes. May 15th. Daytime)**

Today was Sunday so the gang had gathered to Junes to discuss about what they saw on the Midnight Channel.

"Ahem, we will now hold a meeting on our investigation of serial kidnapping-slash-murder case here in Inaba," Yosuke announced.

"Dude, take a breath," Chie said not impressed.

"Oh, then does that make this place our special headquarters," Yukiko asked excitedly. Yosuke was clearly excited too.

"Yes! Exactly! Nicely put Amagi-san," Yosuke exclaimed in agreement. Viljam looked like he was in his own little world now. The phrase 'special headquarters' triggered a series of flashes about their gang as a special forces team or something similar.

"Special headquarters...Hmm, that does have a nice ring to it," Chie said getting into the mood.

"Anyway did you all see what was on last night," Yu asked the team.

"Yup," came from Viljam, while Yukiko nodded while blushing a little as she remembered Viljam's hug.

"I saw it too," Chie said. "I couldn't get a good view of the persons face but it was definitely a guy, wasn't it," Chie said earning various agreements from others.

"I think he was a high schooler," Yu said thoughtfully. While the outfit the person wore was hard to make out, it isn't much of a stretch to assume it was a uniform.

"So that's how I looked on TV.." Yukiko wondered aloud, while Viljam looked thoughtful.

"Didn't all the victims have one thing in common," Yukiko then asked. " That they were females with ties to the first incident," Yukiko continued. While Viljam was the only male victim among the victims so far, it was assumed that he was just a coincidence due to him being kidnapped for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Well that's what we thought," Yosuke said. "But we still don't know for sure who exactly we saw," the headphone wearing boy added.

"In our case, the image on the Midnight Channel was blurry at first, right," Viljam asked. "But when we were kidnapped the image became clear right," The Finnish added. It was Yosuke who decided to answer.

"Yeah, the screen got clear all of a sudden and the program looked like some low-budget TV show," Yosuke informed the two. "Come to think of it, maybe Teddie was right. Maybe we were seeing the other Amagi-san and Nousku from that world," Yosuke said. Teddie had explained to Yu, Yosuke and Chie that what they saw on the program were probably Yukiko's and Viljam's Shadows. Teddie also explained that there was a possibility that the Midnight Channel might be some kind of window from where they can see inside the TV world.

"But last night we couldn't see clearly who it was, so the person probably isn't inside the TV yet," Yukiko said putting together the information she heard.

"If that is the case then it's safe to assume that they are safe for now," Yu said earning nods of agreement from others.

"If we figure out who the person is, maybe we can prevent the culprit from kidnapping him," Viljam said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, and if all goes well we might catch the killer in the act," Yosuke added to Viljams statement.

"Unfortunately we don't have enough information," Yu said bringing attention to himself. "We might have to wait another night and hope that we can see more," Yu said and he got nods of approval, since no one could think of anything better.

Chie then cleared her throat, earning everyone's attention. " That means, if my deductions are correct. Though the image was blurry, and we can't say for sure who it was, it was definitely a young male," Chie said like she was a detective. "But that goes against our prior assumptions. Since we cannot identify the person at this time, we have no choice but to wait and see what happens," Chie finished her deduction, earning a sweatdrop from Yu and Yosuke.

"That's exactly what we just said," Yosuke said in annoyance.

"Shut up," Chie retorted in slight panic. This caused both Yukiko and Viljam to laugh at the scene.

"*Ahhahaha* You're so funny Chie," Yukiko said while laughing.

"*Ehhehehe* Justiinsa*Kihhihihi*," Viljam said while nodding in agreement.

"*Ahahaha* Oh no! M-my funny bone..," Yukiko exclaimed as she laughed.

"*kihhihihihihhiii* Keuhkot ei kestä...," Viljam said as he laughed so hard that he couldn't make a sound for a moment.

" Not again," Chie grumbled at the sight of the two laughing maniacs. Yukiko tried to apologize but she was unable to.

"I'm not sure if I'm more amazed at Amagi-san being like this, or that those two are so similar right now, that it's scary," Yosuke said in amazement.

"If Viljam was a Japanese, I think he could easily pass as Amagi-san's brother," Yu added.

"Please don't say that," Chie pleaded. As much as Chie loved her best friend, Yukiko's laughing fits were one of the few things she couldn't stand. And for some reason, Viljam being Yukiko's brother was a weird thought for Chie. Not to mention the fact of there being two people who were prone for laughing fits was a little disheartening. "By the way, I get the feeling I've seen this guy before and pretty recently too," Chie said in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

It didn't take much for Yosuke and Yu to figure out what she meant. "You too? I've been thinking the same thing since last night," Yosuke said.

"I guess we need to check the TV again tonight and see if we can figure out why," Yu said to the two. Actually, Yu also thought he had seen the guy somewhere before, but he couldn't figure out where.

Their attention was once again drawn towards still laughing Yukiko. Viljam had managed to calm down, but he still let out a chuckle every five seconds.

Chie just about had it with Yukiko. "GRR! When are you gonna stop that, you crazy hyena," Chie yelled. Unfortunately this not only made Yukiko laugh harder, but it also restarted Viljam's laughing.

"*Ahhahahaha* That's a good one Chie," Yukiko cried as she slapped her own leg in laughter. Chie then turned her gaze towards Viljam who was clearly trying to calm down, but was failing miserably.

"*Kihhih* Anteeks...*Ehhehe*...kun luulin sua VANTEEKS," Viljam said laughing harder again, giving the other three question marks. Viljam himself had no idea why he said that, but he just couldn't help it.

"Finnish wordplay perhaps," Yu supplied as he noticed, that two of the Finnish words in Viljam's sentence rhymed. The other two didn't feel like asking Viljam to explain Finnish humor.

The five decided to leave once the two barrels of laughter finally emptied. Yukiko with some control, that she was finally able to muster and Viljam with a coughing fit. However, when they went for the elevators, Chie asked Yukiko to stay behind with her. Yu, Yosuke and Viljam shrugged and moved out, leaving the girls behind.

"What was that blush about," Chie asked her best friend who gained a panicked expression.

"Wh-what do you mean," Yukiko asked in a nervous tone.

"When you revealed you watched the show last night, you were blushing," Chie clarified, while eyeing her best friend in suspicion. "I'm pretty sure you were eyeing Nousku-kun too," Chie accused, causing Yukiko's face to imitate a tomato. Now Chie knew that something was up. "Did he do something to you!? Please tell me I'm wrong," Chie pleaded. After seeing how Viljam behaves...'normally', she didn't want to believe him capable of anything horrible. But what if he was just acting.

"...He hugged me," Yukiko said in embarrasment and red cheeks. Chie was seeing red for a different reason.

"Come on, Yukiko! Let's go and punish him," Chie shouted in anger and started moving towards the elevators to hunt Viljam. Only for Yukiko to grab Chie's arm to stop her.

"Chie, stop! He didn't do anything bad," Yukiko cried, but Chie wasn't listening.

"I can't believe I trusted him to live under your roof without trying anything," Chie growled as she was now practically dragging Yukiko, who was still trying to stop her.

"Chie please," at Yukiko's desperate tone, Chie finally stopped. "Please let me explain," Yukiko begged her best friend. Chie nodded for Yukiko to talk. The Amagi heiress told Chie what happened last night. Some moments she was seeing red, but at the mention of Viljam hugging his sisters all the time, the green clad girl calmed down.

"Wow...That...actually sounds cute," Chie said causing Yukiko to blush.

"Please don't say that," Yukiko pleaded, causing Chie to giggle. Chie's expression turned to that of horror as she realized that Yu's previous comment about Viljam passing as Yukiko's brother now sounded more legit. "Though...If this is what it's like to have a brother, then I'm jealous of his sisters," Yukiko said, unknowingly adding fuel to Chie's imagination. Not wanting to think about this anymore, Chie quickly bid farewell to Yukiko and went home. Yukiko also returned to the Inn.

 **(Yasogami High. May 16th. After school)**

The Investigation team were now talking about what they saw on the Midnight Channel this time. The image was much clearer this time, so they were able to identify him.

"The one who was on last night. It's 'that' guy right," Chie said.

"Kanji Tatsumi, huh? He didn't seem like a social type," said Yosuke.

"I'm sorry, but who's Kanji," Viljam asked surprising the others. Unlike the others Viljam was unable to identify the guy, since he doesn't really know anyone other than the gang.

" Didn't you see the news special the other day," Chie asked Viljam, who shook his head.

"I'm not interested in news. Most of the time they're about things I can't understand," Viljam said giving everyone a blanched look.

"Okay. There was a news special about biker gangs in Inaba. The TV crew was attacked by Kanji, who beat the entire gang on his own," Yosuke gave Viljam a brief summary about the special causing Viljam's eyes to widen. The thought of a single person beating up a biker gang sounded awesome, but the fact that the guy also attacked the TV crew lowered the Finnish boy's opinion of Kanji.

"I watched that special too. Though he wasn't always like this," Yukiko said, causing everyone to snap at attention to her.

"You know him, Yukiko(-san)," Chie and Viljam asked in unison.

"Uh-huh, but we haven't talked to each other in a long time," Yukiko said ignoring the comedic situation. "His family runs a textile shop, and we've been their customers for many years," Yukiko explained, causing Viljam to sigh a little. So Yukiko knew him through his family? Makes sense. " So I speak with Kanji-kun's mother from time to time," Yukiko finished, causing Viljam some minor surprise. Yukiko being comfortable enough calling Kanji by first name meant that they must've been good friends at one point. This made the Finnish boy and everyone present wonder what Kanji was like before. "Oh! Why don't we go there now? We might be able to talk to him in person," Yukiko suggested.

"Sounds good. At the very least, we'll be able to ask if anything strange has happened lately," Chie agreed. "I don't want to meet him in a dark alley, but I'm pretty sure he won't fly off the handle in his family's store," Chie added, causing Viljam to shiver in fright at the dark alley comment.

"Alright then let's get going," Yosuke said and everyone nodded.

"If things get rough, were counting on you guys," Chie said to the boys, who did not like the sound of that. Especially Viljam.

 **(Tatsumi Textiles. May 16th. Later)**

The team entered the store. Viljam took note of all the fabrics in the store. His sisters would have a field day here. Viljam could easily imagine his sisters going over which fabrics would look better as curtains, or if Linnea felt like trying to make something out of these. While the youngest of the Nousku siblings isn't a seamstress by any means, she occasionally makes something out of fabrics when she feels like it. Come to think of it, Maria once made an enormous dog plushie, but Viljam can't remember why. Was it a spur of the moment or something?

Inside the shop was Kanji's mother, a gray haired woman wearing a kimono. She was talking to a boy, who was dressed in a dark blue double-breasted cardigan coat. Plaid pants and a blue cap.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me ma'am," the boy said to the woman. They must've been talking about something, before the gang arrived.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more," said mrs. Tatsumi.

"It's alright. You have given me plenty to think about. Thank you," the unknown boy said before leaving. As he left he gave a startled look at Yukiko and Viljam.

"What's up with him? Weirdo," Yosuke wondered aloud, to which Viljam shrugged and Yukiko was just as confused.

"Ah, Yuki-chan. It's so nice to see you," Kanji's mother greeted Yukiko, who greeted back politely.

Yukiko soon started having small talk with mrs. Tatsumi, while the others looked around. Soon something caught Chie's eye.

"Hey...I've seen this scarf before somewhere," Chie said as she walked towards a scarf that was on a table.

Yosuke walked next to Chie and looked. "Hey, you're right. Where was that," Yosuke said while wracking his brain. Chie then got an exclamation mark as she remembered.

"Hey! It was that place inside the TV," Chie exclaimed.

"That's right! That room with the faceless posters," Yosuke finished Chie's thought. The first time Yu, Yosuke and Chie stumbled inside the TV, they wandered around in search for an exit. They accidentally found a room which was filled with faceless posters of Mizuusu Hiiragi. They also saw a rope hanging from a ceiling with a scarf tied around it in a noose. The scarf looked exactly the same as the one on table.

"Then, it's that announcer's," Yosuke added. According to Teddie each area that they had so far seen inside the TV were created by whoever was thrown inside the TV. Yukiko had her Castle, Saki Konishi had a copy of her family's liquor store and the first victim Mayumi Yamano had the room with faceless posters.

"Are you acquaintances of Yamano-san," mrs. Tatsumi, who heard the last sentence, asked.

"Well..kinda," Yosuke lied. "Did Yamano-san happen to have a scarf like this," Yosuke asked.

"Yes. It was a special order she placed," mrs. Tatsumi said, causing the gang to gain exclamation marks. Viljam, who had drifted somewhat away from others walked back to them to listen too. "She actually wanted a pair, but in the end, she said she only wanted the women's scarf. It left us with no choice but to sell this one separately," mrs. Tatsumi explained, giving all five a worried look.

"Oh man... There IS a connection to the first case. What are we gonna do," Chie said in worry. Other's were just as worried. Yu and Viljam had a thoughtful look on their faces.

Their thinking was interrupted by the doorbell. "Hello! Delivery for the Tatsumis!" sounded the voice that came from the back. There must've been another door outside somewhere in there.

"Oh. I'll be right there. I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me," mrs. Tatsumi said before moving to the back. The gang said their farewells before moving outside.

Outside the Textile Shop, the three saw a certain someone across the street.

"It's Kanji-kun," Yukiko exclaimed.

"Quick hide," Yosuke said and everyone moved slightly behind the wall next to the shop. Except Viljam, who hid behind a large post box.

Across the street, Kanji was talking to that boy from before. Kanji had a bleached hair and looked like a punk in general.

While the other four were slightly bickering about conspiciousness, Viljam pressed his back against his hiding spot and closed his eyes and listened in.

"T-tomorrow's fine with me," Kanji stuttered to the shorter boy. "H-huh? School? 'Course I go to school," Kanji continued. Viljam and the other's could only hear the punk's side of the conversation clearly.

"Then I'll meet you at the gates after school tomorrow." Except this part. With that the shorter boy walked away. Leaving Kanji to mutter to himself.

"D-did he say he was interested? He's a guy...and I'm a guy...But he's interested in me," Kanji wondered aloud. Kanji then turned his head towards his home and noticed the eavesdroppers. "Huh! What the hell're you pricks looking at," Kanji yelled at the gang, who ran away as Kanji ran towards them.

After a short run the Investigation team was gasping for breath. Kanji luckily didn't follow them.

"*gasp**pant* That scared the hell out of me. He's even worse in person than on TV," Chie said while gasping for air.

"Now we know for sure that the one on TV was Kanj," Yu said while panting a little.

" Yeah, but now I just realized something," Yosuke said as he too was evening his breath. "Remember the common points we were talking about? Kanji's mom fits the pattern. I mean, she's a woman and she knew Yamano. But it was her son who appeared on TV. What does that mean," Yosuke said, wondering the last one.

"Based on the fact that it was Kanji who appeared on TV, he's the target," Yu said helpfully.

"True, but wasn't Nousku-kun targeted alongside Yukiko. I mean wouldn't it be possible that Kanji's mother would be targeted as well this time," Chie asked in curiosity.

"One problem: Nousku was shown on TV too, though unclearly," Yosuke said, crushing Chie's theory.

"Umm. Guys," Yu called while looking around like he was looking for something.

"What is it," Yukiko asked as she tried to see what Yu was looking for.

"Where's Nousku," Yu asked. At this the four looked around themselves. Viljam was missing.

"Whuh!? Where did he go," Chie cried as she looked around frantically for the Finnish boy.

Yosuke's face wen't pale as he voiced a certain thought," Did Nousku ever run with us?". At the dreadful question, everyone realized, Viljam was left at Kanji's mercy.

"We have to save him," Yukiko cried.

"Don't bother." Interrupted a voice next to them. It was Viljam, who looked like he had watched a horror marathon, but otherwise fine.

"What happened," Chie asked in concern. Viljam had an angry look.

"After you guys ditched me, I just stayed behind the post box praying that Kanji wouldn't see me," Viljam said a little angry that he was dumped. "By the time I dared to sneak a peek, he was already gone," the Finnish boy finished. Viljam himself didn't notice, but Kanji only saw the other four. When they ran away, Kanji's attention was not directed at the post box. When the delinquent went inside his home, he never noticed Viljam and all the punk had to do was turn his head to the left a little.

"We're sorry," Yukiko apologized while bowing in apology. Chie just looked guilty, Yu didn't show emotion and Yosuke was jealous how easily Yukiko apologized.

The Finnish boy was unable to stay mad. "Alright you're forgiven," Viljam sighed. "So! Did I miss anything," Viljam asked the four.

"We were just wondering if Kanji and his mother would be targeted, like you and Yukiko were," Yu told Viljam who got a skeptical look.

"If that were the case, wouldn't we have seen at least another figure on the screen," Viljam pointed out the same thing Yosuke did a few moments ago. "Also the connection with the first case is a scarf. Would the killer really target someone over something so small," Viljam added the question he had since the shop. This returned everyone's thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"I'm starting to think Nousku, wasn't targeted by accident," Yu said. Everyone couldn't help but agree, but if that was true then the killers motives don't make sense. It would have nothing to do with revenge or silencing the witnesses of the first case.

"URGHH! What's going on," Chie cried in frustration, which was shared by everyone.

"I'm afraid we might have to ask Kanji himself if he's noticed anything strange," Yu said reluctantly. Truthfully, none of them wanted to talk to the guy right now.

"Wasn't Kanji making plans with that weird kid a moment ago," Yosuke reminded everyone. They all remembered Kanji acting a little weird during that conversation.

"There's something funny going on. I can sense it," Chie said with a look of suspicion.

"Sense? You sound like Teddie," Yosuke sweatdropped, causing Viljam to turn his head away, lest they see his amused face. "Still we might find some clues," Yosuke said. Everyone guessed where this was going. "Alright, let's try staking them out tomorrow," Yosuke said confirming what the rest were thinking. Everyone nodded at this. "That being said... Amagi-san, can I have your cell number," Yosuke asked, causing Chie to glare at the Junes boy.

"Was this your plan all along," Chie asked in suspicion.

"Whuh? No. I got everybody's phone number except for hers...and Nousku's," Yosuke said as he remembered that he didn't have Viljam's number either. Viljam just shrugged and dug his phone out. "Well. The Y and V section's of my address book needs some filling," Yosuke said earning a confused look from Viljam. As far as the Finnish knew, the Japanese don't use alphabets, so there shouldn't be a 'V section'. Viljam decided not to question it though.

Chie then sighed for some reason. "*sigh* While we're on the subject, could you stop calling at night just to tell dirty jokes," Chie said with a sigh ,causing Viljam to repocket his phone while staring at Yosuke with a look that said 'the heck!?'. "You really sound like a pervert," Chie added lowering Viljam's opinion of the Junes boy further.

Yosuke panicked a little at Chie's words. "H-hey! I'm trying to have a conversation with Amagi-san," Yosuke complained, causing Yu to shake his head, while Viljam's jaw dropped at Yosuke's pathetic excuse for defense.

"Ja sitten se ihmettelee," Viljam said without thinking, earning questioning looks from others.

"What?" was the question Yosuke asked in suspicion.

"And then it wonders," Viljam translated automatically, earning blanched looks from everyone, but Yosuke who was shocked instead.

"IT!?" Everyone asked in unison with varying tones.

"Yosuke of course," Viljam replied, misunderstanding what the problem was. Also the fact that Viljam dropped the honorific wasn't lost on Yosuke.

"No. We meant, why did you call Yosuke 'it'," Yu asked, clarifying what everyone was wondering. Then Viljam had a look of realization, he was so used to that phrase that it didn't cross his mind how others might take it.

"Ahh sorry. In Finnish 'se' is almost a synonym for third personal pronoun 'hän'," Viljam explained. This only made everyone sweatdrop at the mysteries of how Finnish can call other people 'it'.

"So...," Chie said not sure what to say right now. "Is 'han' the masculine or feminine pronoun," Chie asked out of curiosity, completely misspelling the Finnish word. Viljam smiled at this.

"It's spelled hÄn, and it's gender neutral. Finnish language doesn't have separate pronouns for men and women," Viljam explained giving the four Japanese a major culture shock.

"Why not," it was Yukiko who asked the dumb question(in VIljam's eyes).

"No one knows. If I had to guess, no one ever thought of it," Viljam replied. That answer felt like BS to the four. "From my point of view, languages that have separate personal pronouns for both genders are the weird ones. I mean what's the point," Viljam complained. Unbeknownst to the four, when Viljam studied English and later Japanese, he had some difficulties remembering which personal pronoun was for men and which one was for women. Since Finland only has one third personal pronoun in use, the concept of having two of them sounded stupid and unnecessary to him.

"I guess...I understand where you're coming from," it was Yu who spoke first, earning a grateful look from VIljam. " Back to the matter at hand. We should prepare for a stakeout tomorrow," Yu said returning the conversation back on track.

Chie gained a thoughtful look. "Hmm... Stakeouts... Tailing people. Ooh. I'm getting goosebumps," Chie said in excitment.

"Yeah. Like in the police movies," Viljam agreed with equal excitement.

With that, everyone went to their homes for the rest of the day. Yosuke never got Yukiko's or Viljam's phone numbers.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **You've probably figured this out by now, but I'm a Finnish myself, so I had a lot of fun writing crash course of Finnish language. BTW Viljam's thoughts about there being two third personal pronouns is basically what I thought when the concept was introduced to me."Was the reason for having them the same old sexism?" was the question I had about them and still do. And this is coming from a guy. For those who don't know: Japanese language actually does have two third person pronouns 'kare' for males, 'kanojo' for females. Easier to distinguish between them than 'he' and 'she' in my opinion.**

 **Fun fact of the day: 'he' the male third person pronoun for male in english, is also a Finnish word, for 'them'.**

 **Translations:**

Justiinsa= **That's right**

Keuhkot ei kestä= **Lungs can't take...(or endure if you prefer)**

Anteeks...kun luulin sua VANTEEKS= **Sorry** _ **...**_ **for thinking you were a band(As I'm sure you have figured it out: The joke here is that the underlined words rhyme)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 **Author's notes:**

 **I feel like I didn't do enough with this chapter, but I'll let you decide.**

 **Translations will be found at the bottom.**

 **(Yasogami High. May 17th. After School)**

True to their plans. The team were now waiting near the school gates for Kanji and the unknown boy. Yosuke has just returned from his surveillance trip.

"Has the target arrived at school," Chie asked, the Junes boy.

"Yes ma'am! Visual ID confirmed," Yosuke replied like he was talking to a superior officer. "Target arrived in-zone near the end of his mess break, with mother-issued rations in hand," The headphone wearing boy continued, causing Viljam to chuckle at the wording. "Current status: In the bathroom fixing his hair. The target was acting nervous. I left my position before he had a chance to pick on me," Yosuke finished his report.

"Good job agent EF," Viljam replied getting into the mood. The codename earned a look of suspicion from Yosuke though.

"I wonder what kind of plans they made. It didn't seem like he knew the boy too well," Yukiko said ignoring Viljam's codename for Yosuke.

"Well I think there might be something more subtle-," Chie said, but stopped when she saw the target in question approaching. "Oh! He's here," Chie said as the five huddled against the gate in order to not get noticed by Kanji, who walked past them.

Yu tapped everyone on shoulders and motioned to the other side of the gate. Everyone swiftly but quietly moved to the other side, so that they were now hiding behind the gate column.

Shortly the boy in blue approached Kanji. Good thing the team moved to the other side. Because if Kanji hadn't turned around and notice them, then the other boy would've faced them and seen the team.

"I didn't keep you waiting, I hope," the boy said to Kanji.

"No, I-I just got here too," Kanji said nervously. The team had various levels of disbelief at Kanji, who could beat a biker gang was nervous around a boy, who from this angle looked half Kanji's height. Soon the two walked off.

"What in the world was that," Yosuke exclaimed at the bizzarre scene.

"Let's think later, we need to split up to two teams. One team follows Kanji, the other team stakes out the shop," Yu quickly said.

"Ok but how should we split the teams," Chie asked.

"Yosuke and Satonaka-san will tail Kanji. I, Amagi-san and Nousku will stake out the shop," Yu said earning a frown from Viljam.

"But I wanna tail Kanji," Viljam complained, earning a stern look from Yu.

"Two people are harder to notice than three. Besides, if Kanji sees you, will you be able to run far or fast enough," Yu said in a surprisingly authorative tone. Viljam conceded to the point. If Kanji noticed Viljam this time, he wouldn't get far before going into a coughing fit. Viljam could only grumble in defeat.

"Sounds fine to me," Chie said in agreement. She doesn't trust Yukiko with Yosuke. The green clad girl wasn't sure if Viljam would be any help if the culprit shows up at the shop, but Yu could definitely do something. "Oh crap. They're almost out of sight. Come on Hanamura," Chie said as she ran off with Yosuke following suit.

"We're counting on you agents EF and GK," Viljam called after the two. As much as Chie was curious about the codename for her, she had to jet.

"So what were the codenames you made up," Yu asked Viljam, who perked up.

"For Chie-san agent Green Kicker. For Yosuke agent Epic Fail," Viljam said with a smile that was suppressing laughter. Yukiko on the other hand laughed at the two code names. Yu just sweatdropped.

"Alright agents Red Snow and Silver Slasher, let's go stake out the shop," Viljam said before walking towards the shop. The other two followed suit, while Yukiko was still laughing.

 **(Shopping District. May 17th. Some minutes later)**

Currently Yu was waiting at the entrance to Tatsuhime shrine, which was right next to the Textile Shop. Yukiko and Viljam soon jog back to him with drinks.

"Sorry about the wait. This one's for you," Yukiko said as she handed a TaP bottle to Yu.

"Agent White Snow reports: Nothing suspicious at the shop, " Viljam told Yu. Indeed, while the two were getting drinks from a nearby vending machine, Viljam also took a look at the shop and didn't see anything suspicious.

"Do you think the culprit will come," Yukiko asked in worry. Indeed there was a possibility that the culprit would come to the shop to scout the target.

"Even if he does, I'll protect you," Yu said easily, causing Yukiko to blush.

"I doubt the culprit will show up in broad daylight, but better safe than sorry," Viljam added his opinion. Honestly Viljam was wondering where Yu got the confidence to say that. Viljam himself would never promise something like that, because the boy knows he won't be able to keep it.

"But if he does show up, I'll do what I can to help," Yukiko said with conviction that made Viljam's naturally small ego deflate further. Even a quiet girl like Yukiko is willing to say something like that, while Viljam himself would probably freeze in fear. At least in his opinion. "I mean...I'm sure there's...something I can do," Yukiko stuttered in nervousness. Viljam knows he shouldn't feel better for someone' nervousness, but it keeps reminding him that there are others with flaws and that eases his own insecurities. " Sorry I just went on and on without realizing it," Yukiko apologized to Yu.

"Yukiko-san, you have nothing to apologize for," Viljam said encouragingly, causing Yukiko to give Viljam a grateful look. Yu looked between the two.

"It's just, aside from you, Nousku-kun, I haven't chatted with a boy my age like this before," Yukiko admitted, causing Viljam's eyes to widen in surprise. Then he remembered that Yukiko was the only child of the Amagis. Unlike Viljam who has his sisters as reference material on how to talk to girls, Yukiko has nothing on how to talk to boys. "Chie of course has no problem getting along with guys because of her personality," Yukiko continued.

"No surprise there. Chie-san is loveable, when she doesn't kick you or work you to the point of immobility," Viljam said, with a chuckle. "Please don't tell her I said that, otherwise she'll kill me," Viljam then pleaded. Yu had a frown for some reason.

"I'm still sorry about not being able to stop that," Yu apologized again for not stopping the...incident from happening.

"It's okay, the steak skewers were worth it," Viljam said smiling again. Yukiko looked nervous for some reason again.

"Chie seemed to be having more fun hanging out with you, Narukami-kun and Hanamura-kun lately...The same is true to me," Yukiko said while blushing in embarrassment. Yu could sense the gratitude and affection from Yukiko.

Suddenly Yu looked at Yukiko, like he had seen something impossible. Then the silverhaired boy looked between Yukiko and Viljam. From Yu's viewpoint, what happened few seconds ago, was that the time stopped and a faded card appeared in his vision. Then a voice spoke to him: **Thou art I... And I am thou... thou hast completed the establishment of a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Priestess Arcana...**

Earlier last week. Yu had established a bond with Viljam, but the voice called the establishment incomplete. Yu thought it was because the Finnish boy didn't entirely open his heart or something along those lines, but now his interaction with Yukiko completed the bond. Yu was completely baffled on how one social link can be shared by two people. No use thinking about it now. Yu has to visit the velvet room later, but for now...

" I still need your number," Yu said, surprising Yukiko. "I might need it for the investigation," the silver haired boy clarified.

"Of course. We will need to stay in contact," Yukiko said as she took out her phone. Viljam had also taken out his phone.

"I might need your number too," Viljam piped up. He already had Yukiko's number, but not Yu's. The three traded numbers.

 **(With Chie and Yosuke)**

"Remember Satonaka, if we get caught just pretend we're on a date," Yosuke told Chie, as they were following Kanji and the other boy from a distance. Chie didn't like the plan.

"Not in a million years. We won't have to do that if we stay out of sight," Chie said in annoyance. The two then hid behind a telephone pole and observed the targets.

"Man, this is weird," Chie said.

"Yeah, we definitely stand out," Yosuke agreed.

"No, I mean them. There's something weird going on here," Chie corrected, earning a questioning look from Yosuke.

"Weird? What about them is weird," Yosuke asked skeptically.

"I don't know...Maybe it's just my imagination," Chie replied wracking her brain. "Hey, how do you think the others are doing," Chie wondered aloud.

"Who knows. For all we know they're hitting on Amagi-san as we speak," Yosuke said with a smirk.

"Yeaaah, no. They're not like you. Yukiko doesn't seem interested in that stuff anyway," Chie said. Then Chie gasped. "Wait are you saying Narukami-kun is interested in her," Chie asked in suspicion. Since Chie already heard from Yukiko that Viljam treats her like a sister, the green clad girl wasn't worried about him.

Yosuke was startled by the question. "Huh!? Uhh...I... wouldn't know," Yosuke said clearly trying to avoid the subject. Truthfully last night Yosuke called Yu about the Midnight Channel and then he asked Yu which of the two girls were his type. Yu had answered that while both of them are cute, he doesn't fancy either of them. Yosuke however didn't want to reveal the information Yu had trusted him with, so he lied. " I mean, we don't really talk about that kind of stuff," Yosuke said while laughing nervously.

"Now I'm even more suspicious. You know something don't you," Chie interrogated the boy.

"Well how about you and Nousku? I mean he already hugged you," Yosuke said referring to the blackout incident.

"W-huh? Who told you," Chie panicked, thinking Yosuke talked about the time VIljam hugged her in his sleep.

"What do you mean? Everyone saw it in the cla-...Wait! Did he hug you BEFORE that," Yosuke asked shocked. Yosuke said that Viljam hugged Chie as a way to turn the tables, but he didn't seriously think the boy had the guts to hug someone like Chie. The green clad girl would've blushed heavily if a certain problem hadn't just occurred.

"...The hell are you two doing?" Asked a voice right next to them. As Yosuke and Chie had their conversation they had stepped out of hiding without realizing it and now Kanji was staring them down. The two turned to the delinquent in fear.

"Oh, well, you see...we're just...two crazy lovebirds," Yosuke came up with a lie he thought was convincing.

"Whaddya mean bird," Chie shouted in annoyance, not understanding that Yosuke was trying to save their skin.

"Play along, birdbrain," Yosuke hissed at Chie.

"Didn't I see you guys yesterday," Kanji questioned in an angry voice as he took a step towards the two. The two we're now terrified.

"*Ahhaha* C-come on, it just so happened that we were walking behind you guys. Pure coincidence," Yosuke tried to play off the situation, not realizing that he wasn't answering Kanji's question. "Hey our houses are that way. So we'll be going now," Yosuke added while taking a couple tentative steps away from Kanji.

Chie decided to pipe up. "Um. Look we weren't going to get in you guys' way, and there's nothing strange about it either," Chie babbled, causing Kanji flinch at the word strange.

"S-strange," Kanji repeated the word with wide eyes.

"Why can't you keep your big mouth shut," Yosuke wailed, before running away full speed, with Chie right next to him.

"W-wait, dammit," Kanji shouted as he gave chase. As Kanji chased the two he was yelling after them. "This ain't what you think...You got it all wrong," Kanji yelled as he chased the two into Samegawa flood plain's resting area where they we're now running in circles. "HEY! Are you listening dammit. It seriously ain't like that," the delinquent kept yelling as he chased the two.

 **(In front of Tatsumi Textiles. May 17th. Some time later)**

Chie and Yosuke eventually managed to lose Kanji, and we're now standing in front of the stakeout team while having their hands together in apology.

"We regret to inform...that our mission failed," Chie informed, ashamed of her blunder.

"There was nowhere to hide," Yosuke added. Now Viljam was happy that he didn't go with them.

"Let me guess. Agent EF lived up to his name," Viljam asked, trying not to laugh at the codename. Yukiko on the other hand giggled.

"Okay now I want to know. What does EF stand for," Yosuke asked in suspicion.

"Trust me Yosuke, you don't want to know," Yu said while giving Yosuke a sympathetic look. Yosuke decided to trust Yu and not question it. "Anyway, now all we can do is wait for Kanji to return home," Yu said.

"Siellä maha missä painitaan," Viljam suddenly said earning a questioning look from everyone. In response, Viljam pointed behind Chie and Yosuke. There was the punk they were talking about walking towards them with his head hung low.

Kanji looked up to see the group. "Huh? What're you guys doing here," Kanji asked with a scowl, that Viljam was pretty sure was permanent, on his face. "You're those stupid lovebirds I just saw," Kanji exclaimed as he recognized Chie and Yosuke earning various looks of surprises from other three. Viljam almost had a tint of sadness in his eyes if anyone bothered to look.

"We're not a couple," Chie cried in outrage, causing Viljam to release a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Why are you assholes following me around," Kanji nearly yelled in anger. "Dammit what the hell's going on," Kanji wondered in a more quiet tone. "*sigh* I ain't saying this is you guys' fault...But...Dammit *sigh*," Kanji said in a frustrated tone. The team was a little confused about what happened to make him like this.

"You alright?" it was Viljam who asked that question. While the punk scares Viljam he also was a little worried about what could make him like this.

Kanji was a little surprised at the question, but before he could say anything Yosuke decided to butt in. "Hey, uh...Mind if we ask something? Has anything strange happened to you lately," Yosuke asked carefully.

"Huh? Strange," Kanji questioned, then he started to scowl more. "What's this 'strange' stuff huh!? You think I'm strange," Kanji half yelled the question.

Yosuke tried to defend himself,"No! I didn't mean...".

"You shitheads, better get the hell out of my face, or I'm taking you down," Kanji cut Yosuke's defense with the threat. Yosuke was desperately trying to stutter something, but Kanji wouldn't have any of it. "I LOOK LIKE I'M JOKING," Kanji roared, before charging at the team.

"TÖPPÖSET ALLE," Viljam cried and everyone ran before Kanji reached them.

After running far enough that they were sure Kanji wouldn't follow them. Everyone was gasping for breath. Surprisingly, Viljam didn't get a coughing fit, but his breathing sounded like a whistle.

"Too much running," Chie complained since she had ran just a few minutes earlier.

" Well, nothing happened today, so I guess everything's okay," said Yosuke who was also winded. "But it's already been few days since he appeared on the Midnight Channel," the headphone wearing boy added.

"If this is like with Amagi-san and Nousku, it'll happen soon," Yu said with slight worry.

"Then we can't let our guard down. Maybe we should come back tomorrow to check up on him," Yukiko suggested. Everyone agreed to it.

"Looks like we got no choice," Chie lamented, but she just wanted to go home now and rest. "Let's go home. I'm wiped," the green clad girl said and everyone agreed. However, Yu still planned to make a small detour before heading home.

 **(Velvet Room. May 17th. ?)**

Yu, was now sitting inside what looked like the interior of a limousine. The interior was colored blue. In the background could be heard a soothing piano music. This is Velvet Room. A place that exist between dream and reality, mind and matter. Or that's what Igor said.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room," said the old man sitting at the back. The old man in question was dressed as a butler. His face looked creepy, with bloodshot looking eyes and an unnaturally long nose. This is Igor, master of the room. "It seems, that you are troubled, dear guest," Igor stated.

"I wouldn't say troubled but I do have questions," Yu replied. The silver haired boy wasn't here for the first time. It was funny, the first two times Yu visited here was in a dream. Yu would've brushed them off as merely a dream, if he didn't have the Velvet Key that he received after the third visit. "Is it possible to have a single social link with two people," Yu asked the creepy old man. Instead of Igor a woman answered.

"You mean the bond you have created with the two Priestesses," said a woman in a blue outfit. She had platinum blonde hair and golden eyes. This is Margaret, Igor's assistant. "It is strange for a single link to be shared by two different people, but it isn't anything to worry about," Margaret said as she opened a book she was holding. On the left page of that book was the picture of the High Priestess tarot card and below it, were the faces of Yukiko and VIljam. Interestingly enough the pictures were from the time Yu established the link and they were moving. Like they had been filmed.

"Indeed. This development, while intriguing is nothing to be worried about. I believe all you have to do, is nurture your bond with these two equally," Igor added. Yu sighed a little in relief. The fact that he was dragged into this mystery, was bad enough. Now that left one question.

"Just out of curiosity. Is Nousku represented by High Priestess, because he was kidnapped alongside Amagi-san," Yu asked the residents of the Velvet Room.

Igor chuckled at the question. "No. The High Priestess represents the boy, because of who he is," the old man said in amusement. Yu wasn't convinced however.

"But the High Priestess gives me the impression of a woman," Yu argued. This time it was Margaret who decided to answer.

"That is usually true, but there is a possibility that this boy is a woman at heart," Margaret said while smiling in amusement. Yu paled at the thought.

"It could also be, because he had strong female influence from someone in his life," Igor said. This made Yu relax as he remembered who could possibly give Viljam that kind of influence. His sisters.

With his curiosity sated for now Yu exited Velvet room and was once again in the shopping district. Yu gave one last glance at the floating transparent door only he could see before returning home.

 **(Dojima household. May 17th. Evening)**

Yu was looking outside his window. It was raining, so the Midnight Channel will be on tonight. What worried Yu, was that earlier Yukiko had called him and told that Kanji has gone missing. Yukiko had some calls to make for the Inn, so she decided to call the textile shop too, and Kanji's mother said that he left the house and hasn't come back. According to mrs. Tatsumi, this happens all the time, but considering that Kanji has been shown on the Midnight Channel, Yu had a bad feeling.

Soon enough the Midnight Channel came on. The image was clear and the back ground seemed to be some kind of locker room. Then lo and behold, Kanji appeared in the view. Though he was only wearing a loincloth.

"Hel-LO, dear viewers...It's time for 'Bad, Bad Bathhouse'," said Kanji in a...seductive tone. He also had rosy cheeks. "Tonight, I'll introduce a superb site for those searching for sublime love that surpasses the separation of sexes," Kanji continued, purring at the last word, and Yu was pretty sure he was lisping. Needless to say the sight and the things that Kanji were saying were pretty disturbing to Yu. " I'm your host, Kanji Tatsumi, serving you this scandalously special sneak-in report," Kanji said, stressing the word 'scandalously'. "Goodness gracious, just imagine the things that might happen to me there," Kanji squeed while hugging himself. Yu was absently pressing the power button on his TV's remote, but of course it didn't do anything. "Well then, let's get this show on the road. Tootaloo," Kanji said, before strutting away.

Shortly after the show ended, Yu's phone rang.

"Wh-what the HELL WAS THAT," Yosuke yelled into the phone, nearly blowing Yu's eardrum.

"Calm down," Yu said sternly into the phone, even though he was trying to make sense of what happened as much as Yosuke was.

Yosuke took a few calming breaths." Okay, now I'm fine. But that was definitely Kanji," Yosuke said still a little shaken.

"Yeah, now our fears have come true," Yu said with a sigh.

"If only we held our ground a little longer," Yosuke lamented about the fact that they didn't watch the shop longer. They may have actually caught the culprit, before Kanji was kidnapped.

"In any case we need to come up with a plan tomorrow," Yu told Yosuke, who agreed. With that the two hung up and went to sleep. Though the image of Kanji's weird behavior was haunting them in their dreams.

 **Author's notes:**

 **It's a shame, but I feel like this is the good spot to end the chapter. Honestly, I can't wait until I get to write Kanji's dungeon. There are so many jokes I wanna use. Sorry about now showing this from Viljam's point of view, but don't worry, you'll know what he thinks in the next chapter.**

 **And Finally, Viljam's Arcana is revealed. There are several reasons why I chose the High Priestess for Viljam. First: I took two different tests to see what Arcana might represent me. One site said Priestess, another said Lovers. I'm too introverted to be Lovers so I picked Priestess. Secondly: When I dug in deeper on the meaning of High Priestess I realized, it's more accurate than I thought, especially the reverse. Thirdly: I realized something about the destined partner thing in persona q. If you answer honestly to the questions then you're more than likely to get the character closest to your own self. I got Yukiko when I tried it the first time. In other words I could be considered a male version of Yukiko...Or maybe I'm thinking this too much.**

 **Fun fact of the day: There was a kitchen ware shop, named 'keittiö' in Tokyo(I've visited). 'Keittiö' is the Finnish word for Kitchen. Japanese think that the letters Ä and Ö are cute, because of their dots.**

 **Translations:**

Siellä maha missä painitaan= **There's the tummy where you wrestle(The original phrase is: Siellä paha missä mainitaan= There's the evil where mentioned. If you swap the first letters of 'paha'(evil) and 'mainitaan'(mention) you get 'maha'(tummy) and 'painitaan'(wrestle). Isn't Finnish fun XD)**

TÖPPÖSET ALLE= **Töppöset beneath(Töppöset are a type of footwear made of felt cloth or wool. The phrase itself is another way of saying: Run away. Btw I searched, but apparently English doesn't have an equivalent for töppöset)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 **Author's notes:**

 **I'm worried that this chapter has few unnecessary segments, but I just couldn't resist putting them in.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. May 18th. Afternoon)**

The team was now gathered in their classroom discussing about the current development.

"*sigh* Given the pattern so far, Kanji's already inside the TV," Yosuke sighed.

"I still wonder what the heck that was," Viljam said referring to the show Kanji hosted. Honestly. When Viljam saw it, he hid under his blanket and covered his ears. He actually fell asleep in that position. None of the other guys wanted to think about what the show was about.

" I wonder what the Midnight Channel really is," Yukiko wondered aloud.

Chie decided to answer. "At first I thought it was one of those paranormal things, but when I tried, it was real," Chie said. "Turns out it's actually connected to another world," Chie added, still in slight wonder about it.

This made Viljam think. "Yeah, but why is it so? And how did that world come to be in the first place," Viljam asked no one in particular. Now that Viljam mentioned it they had no idea what the TV world really is either. Teddie only said ' This place is what it is. It doesn't have a name'. The name 'TV world' came from the simple fact that it can be entered through a TV. "Speaking of which, where did the rumor come from again," Viljam asked, referring to the fact that the rumors of the Midnight Channel have been going on since before the first murder. Or that's what he understood.

After a moment of thinking no one could come up with an answer to that. "Well if there's a rumor going on, that means a bunch of people are watching it," Yosuke pointed out, since he couldn't think of anything.

Yukiko decided to speak up." How did the rumor go? If you stare into a turned off TV on a rainy night..." The red clad girl said as she recalled the rumor.

"No one in their right mind would try something that ridiculous," Yosuke said, but then thought of something. "Unless they were urged to," Yosuke added.

"Or if they were bored," Viljam addded to Yosuke's statement, earning a sarcastic 'thank you' from Yosuke. Viljam ignored it. "Except if you try it, it actually works. With that logic I think there might be people who have seen Yukiko-san's show too," The Finnish boy added making everyone flinch, especially Yukiko. Then Yukiko's expression changed to a startled realization.

"Wouldn't that mean the killer too might be watching the shows," Yukiko pointed out, causing everyone to get exclamation marks on their heads.

"Now that you mention it, he's probably enjoying-," Chie said in slight annoyance, which soon turned into a shocked realization. "Wait a sec! I bet he IS enjoying it! He's probably laughing his head off watching the 'show' that comes on after he throws the victim into the TV," Chie exclaimed. This caused everyone to have various mental images of a sicko, that the killer might be. Viljam suddenly went pale.

"Umm. Guys...is it possible that the killer might've seen what our shadows said too," Viljam asked as he panicked about people possibly seeing him cry. While they have no evidence about the killer seeing what happened to them, the doubt that was now within them refused to go away. Chie started to have a little...hissy fit.

"OH, THAT'S IT," Chie yelled in anger. "That killer is dead meat! I'm gonna leave footprints all over his face," Chie threatened. " Guys! First we save Kanji! Then we'll crush the killer! Finally we'll crush the killer and send him to hell," Chie declared in fury.

"Should we get you spike bottomed shoes in preparation for that," Viljam asked Chie with suppressed anger and clenchend fists. Chie furiously nodded, liking Viljam's gory thoughts for a change. Yosuke and Yu were a little terrified at the thought of Chie having such deadly Yukiko started to giggle, earning a questioning look from others.

Soon the giggle turned into laughter. "Ch-Chie, those last two were the same thing," Yukiko said while laughing. Yu and Yosuke were flabbergasted at what Yukiko picked from the conversation.

"Uh, I know," Chie simply said causing all but Viljam to sweatdrop.

"You're not going to laugh," Yu asked Viljam, who gave the silverhaired boy a questioning look.

"Why should I?"

"Because, the last few times Amagi-san had a laughing fit you joined her," Yosuke said, also surprised that the Finnish boy wasn't laughing.

"Ei naurata," Viljam said simply, earning question marks from the other guys.

"Not funny," Yu guessed the meaning of Viljam's sentece. The silverhaired boy has picked up that the word 'ei' probably means no from the few time's Viljam had used it.

"Close enough," Viljam said giving Yu a congratulatory pat on the back.

 **(TV world. May 18th. After school)**

Now that Kanji was inside the TV world, the gang had to go in there to save him.

"Hey Teddie. Someone's here right," Yosuke asked, though he already knew the answer Teddie would give him.

"Yep. I think someone's here," Teddie said in a depressed tone.

"You think? Do you know where he is," Chie asked eager to get this over with.

"I dunno," Teddie said. The bear's depressed behavior was weird to the others.

"What's wrong? Not feeling well," Chie asked in worry.

"Well I sniff and sniff, but I still can't tell where the smell is coming from," Teddie replied.

"Aren't you thinking too much about too many things," Yosuke asked the bear, earning a curious looks from VIljam and Yukiko. "I mean last time you were wondering who you really are and how long you've been here," Yosuke continued. Ever since the second time Yosuke and Yu visited the TV world, Teddie had started to question where he came from. The bear supposedly hadn't thought of that, until Yu's and Yosuke's second visit. "Your head's empty to begin with. Don't stress over stuff too much," Yosuke finished. Teddie turned away from them.

"You're right," The bear said still a little down. Teddies depression was starting to infect the others to varying degrees.

"If you can't figure out where Kanji is, were in deep trouble," Yosuke said trying to get Teddie's mind off of this depressing topic. " We can't just wander around aimlessly in a place like this," the headphone wearing boy added. Even with their glasses that allows them to see through the fog, they still run the risk of getting lost. More importantly, who knows what kind of shadows they'll face then.

Teddie then turned around, visibly perked up. "I know what might help! You should give me a hint of this Kanji person," Teddie said in more cheerful tone. "It's just a feeling I have. I think I can concentrate better with it," Teddie added.

"Like something that he's touched recently," Viljam asked the bear, who shook his head in reply.

"No it needs to be something that would give me a better understanding of him," Teddie said confusing Viljam and the others. If Teddie tracks by scent then wouldn't it make sense that he would need something with Kanji's smell on it? Then again, this whole place defies common sense, so maybe the workings of Teddie's nose is different too.

"Something about Kanji huh?," Yosuke said aloud, surprising Viljam with how easily the headphone wearing boy was accepting Teddie's explanation. "I can't really think of anything besides the rumors," Yosuke said in slight complaint. Things just got more complicated.

"Yeah. It's not like we know him that well," Chie agreed with Yosuke.

"I just need a little hint. Something that might point me to what he's really like," Teddie tried to motivate everyone.

"Why don't we ask people around and find someone who knows Kanji-kun personally," Yukiko suggested. Everyone agreed to the plan.

 **(Aiya's Diner. May 18th. Few hours later)**

After exiting TV world, the team went their separate ways. Yu went to ask Kanji's mother, since she was most likely person to know about Kanji. Yosuke went to Junes to see if he could hear something. Viljam and Yukiko went to the shopping district to ask people, but all they got were the rumors that have been circulating. Chie went to Samegawa Flood plain, but she was having no success.

When Viljam and Yukiko were returning to the Inn, they ran into Chie, who said she was going to grab a bite at Aiya's before going home. Viljam asked what that was, and Chie looked at him like he was crazy. Then Chie told Yukiko that she would be borrowing Viljam and the green clad girl dragged the Finnish boy into Aiya's.

Now Viljam was sitting with Chie, trying to decide what he should order. Though the Finnish boy was hungry, he couldn't decide what he should order.

"Two beef bowls," Chie said, tired of Viljam's indecision.

"Whuh? But I haven't decided yet," Viljam complained in annoyance.

"If you liked steak skewers, you're gonna love this. Trust me," Chie said in confidence. Although Viljam was skeptical about Chie's taste, he had to admit that she was right about the skewers.

"Fine, but if I don't like it, you're gonna pay it," Viljam said with a slight warning. Chie only gave a cheeky grin in response. She was pretty sure Viljam was gonna love it.

Shortly the beef bowls arrived, and Viljam sniffed a few times. Viljam has learned to trust his nose when it came to food. What smells good, usually tastes good and this smelled very good.

Chie immediately dug in, wolfing down her food in delight. Viljam followed suit.

"Was I right," Chie asked after glancing towards Viljam, who had problems with chopsticks, but otherwise ate with a pace comparable to Chie. Viljam only nodded as his mouth was full. Chie smiled in satisfaction.

The two ate their bowls in relative silence and each paid their meals.

"So! What do you think of Aiya's beef bowls," Chie asked the Finnish boy.

"It was wonderful," Viljam said happily. There was a catchphrase in one of Finnish food companies, 'Hyvä ruoka, parempi mieli.' or 'Good food, better mood.'. Viljam has taken this phrase to the heart.

"No 'Viljam highly approves'," Chie asked teasingly, causing Viljam to slump.

"Please don't bring that up," Viljam said in embarrassment. Viljam can't understand why he can't keep his mouth shut about his personal things.

"Oh, don't be a baby. There's nothing wrong with showing your appreciation to great food," Chie said cheerfully. "Speaking of which, you should come here on a rainy day. Then you'll get to try Aiya's Mega Beef Bowl Challenge," Chie said in excitement. This caught Viljam's attention.

"Mega Beef Bowl Challenge," Viljam asked in curiosity, just the name made it sound good.

"Yeah! You get to try to eat a GINORMOUS beef bowl. If you finish it, it's free," Chie said emphasizing the word ginormous. " But to this day, no one has finished it. Seriously that bowl is like a gateway to meat dimension," Chie said with a giggle.

"Sounds like my kind of dimension," Viljam joked, causing Chie to laugh. Viljam has never looked forward to a rainy day so much before. Now Viljam wanted nothing more than to hug Chie. This thought made Viljam flinch. As much as the Finnish boy wanted to hug Chie, he felt the girl probably wouldn't appreciate it. Not to mention he couldn't understand why he got a sudden hugging urge. Sure he hugs his sisters whenever he feels like it, but he understands that aside from his sisters people don't always like hugs.

"What are you thinking," Chie asked in suspicion. While Viljam was having his internal conflict, a slight red had risen to his cheeks and Chie noticed.

"Nothing," Viljam desperately said hoping that Chie would drop it. She didn't.

"Tell me the truth and maybe I won't kick you," Chie threatened though only half heartedly. For some reason, she refused to believe Viljam was thinking anything perverted.

"I want to hug you. I'msorrypleasedon'tkickme," Viljam cried, while closing his eyes bracing for impact. It never came. Chie thought she should get angry, but for some reason she was flattered instead. Part of Chie thought that when a guy want's to hug a girl they had an ulterior motive of getting a 'feel' from them. Another part of her kept telling that Viljam isn't like that.

"It's fine...," Chie said while having a slight blush herself for reasons she couldn't comprehend. Viljam opened his eyes slowly.

"Umm..Okay...I should head back," Viljam said and ran off before Chie could reply. The green clad girl sighed, before going home herself.

 **(Junes. May 19th. After School)**

Out of the five, only Yu had gotten some information, though Kanji's mother couldn't help surprisingly. However, Yu wondered if the boy that Kanji talked to would know something. After questioning around, Yu had found out that the boy was at Junes from time to time. Yosuke hadn't seen the boy yesterday, but there was a possibility that the boy would be at Junes today.

The gang was now at Junes lobby ready to split up to see if the boy would be somewhere, until the elevator opened and the boy they were looking for stepped out. Yu quickly approached him with the others following suit.

"Is there something you need," The blue clad boy asked the gang.

"We were wondering what you and Kanji were talking about yesterday," Yu cut to the chase. The boy didn't seem surprised at all.

"Why are you interested," the boy asked calmly, but he was definitely suspicious of them.

"Just curious," Yu replied with equal calmness.

"Very well. You seem to be busy, so I will just tell you," The boy said, giving everyone a ray of hope. "All I did was ask him about his recent activities," The boy said, crushing their hopes. "Although he did seem to act a little peculiar," The blue clad boy continued.

"Peculiar?". It was Yu who asked that.

"Yes, so I bluntly told him as much," the boy in blue replied. "I said 'You're weird'. That made the color drain from his face," the boy continued. Now that they thought of it, Kanji didn't like it when he thought Yosuke called him strange. "He might be struggling with some sort complex," the boy finished. "Was the information to your satisfaction," the boy asked nonchalantly.

"Yes. Thank you," Yu said before the others could reply. The boy bid farewell and left.

"How exactly did that help," Chie asked skeptically, earning everyone's attention. Yosuke sighed and turned to Chie.

"Remember what Teddie said, he needs a hint to point what Kanji is really like," Yosuke said in exasperation. Chie only grumbled in annoyance.

"I'm not sure how this would help Teddie to sniff Kanji out, but if it works then I won't complain," Viljam said, earning some nods of agreement.

 **(Junes Food court. May 19th. One hour later)**

Though they had information now, Yu had insisted that they would buy some supplies first in preparation, for the exploration. Not to mention they didn't bring their equipment with them, so they had to go to their homes to pick up their weapons. They all agreed to meet at Junes food court when each of them were done.

When everyone gathered at the food court, a surprise guest appeared next to them. A fox with a small red apron tied around it's neck.

"Where did that come from," Chie wondered aloud. Thankfully the food court was empty right now, so no one else was there to see this fox.

"Is that some kind of super fox," Viljam asked in wonder causing everyone but Yukiko to sweatdrop.

"Where did that come from," Yosuke asked wondering how Viljam came to that conclusion.

"Well if it was able to get here, without being noticed, then it must be much smarter than an average fox," Viljam replied like it was obvious. That made everyone but Yu to think. It's true the fact that this fox was able to sneak here means it must be either exeptionally stealthy, or that people were dumb. Yukiko then decided to speak up.

"I think I've seen that fox near the shrine before," Yukiko said as she took note of the red apron around the fox's neck.

"I've met this guy before," Yu said surprising everyone. Yu then proceeded to explain how he met this fox a few days ago when he visited the shrine. The fox handed him a leaf before running off. Then an old man came to the shrine and asked Yu to give that leaf. Turns out the leaf was a medicinal plant that apparently helped the old mans weak knees. After the old man left an offering at the shrine, the fox returned to check the offeratory box and yipped in delight. What Yu left out, was that since then, he has been helping to fulfill ema wishes left at the shrine, whenever he had the time.

"Cure us with leaves," Chie asked in wonder.

"Why does that sound wrong," Viljam asked while wracking his brain for an answer. This earned a sweat drop from the others while the fox just growled at him.

"And it wants money, in exchange for that," Yosuke asked in disbelief. The fox yipped as if confirming it. "What's with this thing? It's like it understands what were saying. The fox yipped again, surprising everyone.

"Maybe it does understand what we're saying," Yukiko said in amazement. Viljam too was willing to believe that this fox understood what they were talking about.

" And like Viljam said, no one saw this fox sneak in here," Chie pointed out Viljam's previous observation.

"If it wants to help then we should let it," Viljam said, though he was still a little skeptical about the healing leaves.

" I agree," Yu said. He witnessed the healing properties of the leaves first hand, so he was confident the fox would be able to help a lot. With that everyone was in agreement to let the fox do what it wanted. Yosuke especially didn't want to risk the animal to sulk and get into mischief at Junes, if they refused.

 **(TV world. May 19th. few minutes later)**

True to their word the gang took the fox into the TV world. Teddie was able to pinpoint Kanji's location with the information they got. Though the bear was complaining about being worked to the stuffing with so little info. Now the gang had just arrived at the locker room like place, but the fox stayed in the lobby. The door that was open seemed to have fog leaking out of there.

"Is it just me or does the fog seem a little different here," Chie asked as she noted that the glasses they were wearing didn't seem to see through it. Yukiko then took off her glasses and wiped them on her sleeve.

"My glasses are fogging up," Yukiko said in slight complaint. Viljam approached the door and sniffed the air twice.

"I don't think that's fog," Viljam said in slight concern, though the others weren't sure why he was concerned.

"What do you me-," Yosuke's question was cut off by slow jazz music that suddenly started playing.

" **C'mere pussycat!** " A manly voice was heard out of nowhere. " **Oh...such well defined pecs,** " said another man's voice. " **There's no need to be scared,** " said manly voice again. Everyone was getting mildly disturbed, guys more than the girls. " **Now just relax,** " the manly voice said again. The jazz music slowly faded and the voices stopped.

"I don't wanna go in there," Yosuke cried in distress.

"Is Kanji-kun really in there Teddie," Yukiko asked, ignoring Yosuke.

"The nose knows," Teddie said in pride, confirming Yosuke's fears.

"Can't we just give up now," Yosuke said, causing Chie's jaw to drop, while Yukiko had a disappointed look.

"Hanamura! We can't just leave Kanji in there," Chie shouted in disbelief. The green clad girl couldn't believe Yosuke was willing to abandon Kanji just like that.

"Can't we," Yu mumbled, but the girls heard him. Now they were even more shocked. Yosuke they could understand, but Yu is supposed to be the fearless leader. The girls then turned towards Viljam, who had covered his ears and shut his eyes at some point and seemed to be concentrating. Suddenly Viljam opened his eyes and then unplugged his ears.

"Let's do this," Viljam said in determination. This action surprised both the girls and the other guys. Viljam had focused on happy thoughts to block out the fear the voices instilled into him. Now he was able to act as if there was nothing to worry about.

"See! Nousku-kun gets it. Now move it," Chie said to the guys in a stern tone. The other guys just grumbled and everyone went in.

 **(Few minutes later)**

The team had advanced inside the corridors that looked like a sauna. Yu and Yosuke were still worried that something might get them any second, while Viljam wasn't worried at all. The shadows didn't seem to be as scary as the two guys had thought.

Viljam stayed slightly behind with Yukiko and gave magical support alongside the Amagi heiress. He also avoided sending Louhi in the middle of the enemies so that it wouldn't get hit by a physical attack. After disposing another group of shadows, the gang were once again moving. Viljam was relatively relaxed, while Yu and Yosuke were still afraid.

"Umm. Yu, do you think we should get out and leave this to the girls and Viljam," Yosuke whispered to Yu, who subtly nodded in agreement. Unfortunately, Viljam had gotten close and heard the plan.

"Ette VOI olla tosissanne," Viljam shouted at the two. Yu and Yosuke did not need a translation to know they were in trouble. "I'm actually more of a man than you two are right now," Viljam said as he grabbed the back of their collars. "And that's saying something," the Finnish boy added before proceeding to drag the other guys forward. Then all of a sudden Chie gave a shriek.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING," Chie cried while covering her eyes. Yukiko had also turned away from the three boys. Yu and Yosuke were utterly confused on what Chie meant. Until they turned to Viljam. The boy had taken off his uniform jacket and both shirts and tied them to his waist at some point. Now Yosuke and Yu were terrified.

"I'm roasting in here," Viljam complained, not seeing what the problem was. This whole area was a bit hot and Viljam couldn't stand it for long. "Do I really look that hideous," Viljam asked with a slightly hurt voice. Chie and Yukiko were blanched at Viljam's question. Does Finland have different idea of modesty, or is it just him?

"Dude, the problem is how you're comfortable being without a shirt," Yosuke pointed out. Viljam had a confused look that was partly covered by his glasses.

"Someone told me that japanese are prude, but I didn't think it was this bad," Viljam said in exasperation. "If me without a shirt is so terrible, then I wonder how you'll deal with Kanji's Shadow. If it decided to follow the proper sauna dresscode," Viljam complained, causing Yu and Yosuke to pale at the implication.

"What's the proper 'sauna' dresscode," Yu asked dreading the answer.

"All clothes off," Viljam said simply, confirming Yu's and Yosuke's fears. Chie and Yukiko blushed heavily at the thought, but what disturbed them was that Viljam was talking about such things so easily.

"Umm...Nousku-kun. How would you know about 'sauna' dresscode," Chie asked with difficulty. Viljam was staring at Chie like she was being weird.

"Question: Where am I from again," Viljam asked like he was talking to someone with lesser intellect. Viljam was getting annoyed at their overdeveloped sense of modesty. At least overdeveloped in his opinion. He's only shirtless for crying out loud.

"What does that have to do with anything," Chie asked in annoyance still refusing to look at Viljam. The Finnish boy facepalmed, unknowingly letting Yu and Yosuke go. The two immediately inched away.

"Rephrasing: Where does the word 'sauna' come from," Viljam rephrased his question. It didn't take a genious to figure out where this was going.

"Are you saying that sauna is a Finnish thing," Yosuke cried in horror, inching further away. Viljam gave a frown at the behavior.

"Yes. At first Finland had a thing called smoke sauna, then someone thought it would be better without smoke," Viljam explained like it was the most natural thing in the world. Which it was, for Viljam. Although the guys were a little skeptical about the smoke sauna, they dared to ask one thing.

"Are saunas in Finland reserved for...," Yu asked, letting the last word hang. Viljam's response was a confused look and a tilted head. Yosuke decided to continue the line of questioning.

"What partner here is trying to ask, are men's chastity safe," Yosuke finished the question. Viljam gave the two a blanched look, then he bursted into uncontrollable laughter.

"Is Villy alright," Teddie asked as he came closer. The bear had no idea what they were talking about. The nickname immediately stopped Viljam's laughter.

The Finnish boy walked to Teddie and gave him a glare. "Never call me that again," Viljam said in a menacing tone, causing Teddie to shiver in fear. The bear nodded in terror. Viljam then turned to the others. "Shall we move on," Viljam asked and with that. Everyone moved on, although they still wondered why Viljam didn't like the nickname.

 **(later)**

"MAHAMA!" an angel like Persona made circles of light appear beneath a group of fish-like shadows. The circles collapsed and the shadows were instantly killed. This Persona is Principality, a new Persona of Justice Arcana Yu had summoned. The group had moved two floors up and they were instantly jumped by a group of shadows.

"They were weak to light," Teddie informed for future reference.

"I'm sorry everyone," Viljam apologized again. Viljam had earlier ordered mabufu from Louhi, but the fish-like shadows repel ice. The spell was turned against the party, and while Viljam and Chie were resistant to ice, Yukiko was weak against it.

"It's okay Nousku-kun," Yukiko said as she got up unsteadily. Medicine was quickly applied to Yukiko. Although the red clad girl was a healer, using Persona abilities is tiring, so they were using them sparingly.

"I hope we get this over with soon," Yosuke said. He and Yu were relatively fine from the repelled ice.

The group moved towards the first door they have seen since arriving on this floor.

"I sense a precense behind that door," Teddie informed the team. "Could this be Kanji," The bear added. Yosuke and Yu hoped it was, but then again that would be too easy. The group entered regardless.

"There he is," Chie exclaimed as the team saw Kanji not far away.

"Kanji," Yosuke called at the boy. Yu and Viljam however were on guard, since they saw that Kanji was only wearing a loincloth.

Kanji turned around, and the group saw the yellow eyes that revealed it to be Kanji's shadow. Then a spotlight lit above it. " **Ooh, my my! Thank you for your undivided attention** ," Kanji's shadow said while winking at the guys. Yosuke and Yu instantly summoned Jiraiya and Izanagi, ready to attack.

"Hold it! What's gotten into you," Chie yelled as she got in front of the two guys.

"Screw that! We're not gonna give that thing a chance to violate us," Yosuke yelled.

"Nousku-kun, say something," Chie cried turning towards the boy in question. Unfortunately Chie noticed that Viljam had moved behind the other guys and was now plugging his ears while mumbling something in Finnish.

"Even he agrees with us," Yu pointed out, even though he had no idea what the Finnish was mumbling.

" **These images are coming to you live from this steamy paradise** ," Kanji's shadow said, while doing...weird poses. " **But, I've yet to have any charming encounters. Could this hot fog be the , my body's tingling with excitement** ," the Shadow said while hugging itself. Then the title appeared:MEN ONLY!Kanji Tatsumi in Rosy Steam Paradise. Now Chie too summoned Tomoe.

"CHIE," Yukiko cried. Chie instantly relaxed.

"Sorry he annoyed me," Chie apologized.

"See, what we mean," Yu said, now calmer. The only upside to this situation was that the shadow wasn't following Viljam's idea of sauna dresscode.

"This is so wrong in so many ways," Yosuke said in a depressed tone.

"This is just like with Yukiko," Chie complained.

"It wasn't like this," Yukiko cried in protest. When they were in the middle of saving Yukiko and Viljam, a moment similar to this appeared in the castle. For some reason, Viljam's shadow didn't show itself that time.

"Is it over," Viljam suddenly asked, while unplugging his ears. He had also put a T-shirt back on. No way was he going shirtless with Kanji's Shadow around. Viljam's question was answered by incoherent voices that came out of nowhere. Since the Midnight Channel shows on every night it rains, it wouldn't be strange if this moment would be seen on the TV.

"Oh crap. If people really see this, Kanji-kun will be a legend in a way he never intended," Chie said. Even if the show isn't being aired right now, it's probably being seen later on.

"It's really his shadow, not him. But normal people won't know that," Yosuke said.

" **That elusive thing I truly yearn for..Will I finally find it here,** " The shadow giggled. " **Well then! Let's move on into deeper realms of romance! LET'S GET GOING DAMMIT,** " The shadow announced, sounding like the real Kanji on the last sentence. Then it ran off.

"This looks much worse than with Yuki-chan," Teddie commented on Kanji's shadow. "At this rate it might end up 'bear' naked," The bear pulled a bear pun.

" 'Bear' naked," Yukiko repeated, earning an exclamation mark from Chie.

"Oh man, here it comes," Chie complained at the incoming laughing fit.

Few seconds passed. "Was I supposed to laugh," Yukiko asked in confusion, surprising everyone, but Viljam.

"That was a bad woodleg joke," Viljam commented, earning a confused look from others. " 'Cause it limps," Viljam clarified, earning a slight laugh from Yukiko. This made Teddie slump down in depression, while others sweatdropped.

"I don't understand what's funny about that," Chie complained at Viljam's lousy attempt at a joke. The Finnish boy started clapping in response.

"Wonderful Chie-san! You have internalized the very IDEA of a woodleg joke," Viljam said in amusement. With this everyone figured that 'woodleg joke' was just a Finnish way of saying 'lame joke'. With that, everyone started moving forward. Almost leaving Teddie behind.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **And I'll end it here. Sorry if you were looking forward to more. Honestly, I think this is my weakest chapter so far. Maybe I rushed it too much.**

 **FYI The woodleg joke thing comes from Finnish word, "Puujalkavitsi", which is a Finnish phrase for a lame joke. Whether they were named that, because they "limp" or not is anyone's guess. My dad has a bad habit of throwing them whenever the opportunity presents itself, which luckily isn't too often.**

 **Translations from Finnish:**

Ei naurata= **Not laughing.**

Ette VOI olla tosissanne = **You can't be serious( You can place the capitalization where you feel it fits best)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 **Author's notes:**

 **I hope the readers have as much fun reading this as I had writing it. Hopefully you readers are able stomach what classifies as funny to me.**

 **Translations will be found from the bottom notes, but they're more of confirmations this time.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. May 20th. Lunch hour)**

The Investigation team made a lot of progress in exploring the dungeon yesterday, but eventually, they got tired and decided to continue on a later date. Besides according to the weather forecast, there won't be any fog anytime soon, so they weren't in that much hurry.

Interesting thing today, the test scores were now posted on the hallway and the gang was looking at how they did alongside many other students.

"*sigh* I didn't do any good," Chie complained as she saw that she was below halfway the list. All second year scores were listed, not just their class'. Yosuke too sighed as he didn't do much better. "I wish I had Yukiko's gift for studying," Chie complained, earning Yukiko's attention.

"Oh, but Narukami-kun is on top this time," Yukiko said impressed. This earned Yosuke's and Chie's attention. True enough Yu's name was on the top of the list, with Yukiko right below him. Before Yu came to town Yukiko was always at the top of the list.

"Dude! I knew you were smart, but this is insane," Yosuke said in an impressed tone.

"Narukami-kun is amazing," Chie said in wonder. Yosuke then turned towards Viljam, who was looking at the list with wide eyes.

"So Nousku. Will you be eating your shoes today," the headphone wearing boy teased. In response Viljam pointed at a certain number on the list.

"What!? Failing my ass," Yosuke cried as he saw Viljam's name occupying number nine spot.

"See Nousku-kun. I told you, you could do it," Yukiko said cheerfully.

"I couldn't have done it without you," Viljam responded in embarrassment. Yukiko's help in studying was fundamental part in Viljam's score, but Viljam also has a certain talent to absorb any information he finds interesting.

"You should be proud of this," Yu said in encouragement.

"Please stop, it's nothing special," Viljam said in embarrassment. Chie couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Nothing special!? Don't tell me scores like this are normal to you," Chie asked in baffelment. This guy was worried about getting a bad score and yet is in the top ten, and he acts like it isn't anything special. VIljam was slowly getting uncomfortable.

"It's not! Even a halfwit could do it," Viljam said in slight panic. Unfortunately, the way he said it earned him dirty looks from other students. If even a halfwit could reach top ten, what did it make of those who didn't? That's the thought that ran through everyone's head.

"You think you're so much better than us," said a random student. "Don't get so full of yourself," another said. Before anyone else said anything, Viljam ran as fast as he could.

"Nousku-kun," Yukiko called after him, but the boy didn't listen.

"I'll get him," Yu said before running off after him.

It didn't take long for Yu to find Viljam who was breathing heavily. However, the Finnish boy's asthma had nothing to do with it this time.

"The class is beginning again soon," Yu told Viljam, who was startled by Yu's sudden appearance.

"Why did they attack me like that," Viljam questioned, in a shaky voice.

"Even a 'halfwit' can do it," Yu said emphasizing the word halfwit, causing Viljam to sigh.

"Okay, I could've worded it better, but that's no reason to start abusing me like that," Viljam said.

"Only two things were said," Yu pointed out causing Viljam to get depressed. As much as Viljam wanted to argue, he knew it was no use.

"*sigh* I just can't take it anymore," Viljam sighed.

"Anymore," Yu picked up the keyword, startling Viljam.

"Sorry. I shouldn't bother you," Viljam said before walking back towards the class.

Although Yu was wondering what Viljam meant, the silverhaired boy felt like he had gained some insight on the Finnish boy.

 **(Inaba. May 20th. After school)**

The rest of the school day was worrisome. During the class, King Moron was at it again. The teacher heard about Viljam's little slip of tongue and immediately started to lecture on how arrogance will ultimately end Viljam. When the teacher said that people who think they are perfect will eventually be shown the harshness of reality, Viljam did the unthinkable. The Finnish boy threw his textbook at King Moron. Viljam was sent to the principal's office immediately. When the gang saw Viljam again, he looked like he had cried. The Finnish boy refused to talk about what happened, and he returned straight to the Inn.

Now Chie and Yukiko were discussing about what might've happened.

"What happened with Nousku-kun," Chie wondered in worry. Nevermind that Viljam snapped at Morooka, something happened at the principal's office that made the boy cry.

"I don't know. I never dared to ask him about his personal life," Yukiko replied in equal worry. Even though the two live under the same building, Viljam never talks about his life back in Finland.

"King Moron, definitely has him on his shit list now," Chie lamented. Although Viljam practically was on Morooka's shit list, who knows how much that pathetic excuse for a teacher is going to make the boy's life a living hell. Chie then remembered something. "Remember what his shadow said? 'I'm defective'," Chie said thinking that maybe what Viljam's shadow said was the key. Yukiko didn't want to remember the incident, because of her own shadow.

"Umm. I thought it was because he thought his sisters were better than him," Yukiko said in slight discomfort. She didn't like speculating about Viljam's problems behind his back.

"Yeah that's what I understood too, but maybe there's more to it," Chie said. The way Viljam denied being any good started to concern her now. Is he just modest, or could someone have told him so. "Urgh. That's it Yukiko, we're going to ask him what's going on," Chie groaned in frustration. Yukiko tried to stop her.

"We shouldn't pressure him, he'll tell us when he's ready," Yukiko tried to reason, but Chie was having none of it.

"Come on, he saw all of your hidden feelings. Sure we heard what his are, but we have no idea why," Chie countered. "Besides, I get the feeling he'll just keep it to himself if we don't force it out of him," the green clad girl added. Yukiko wanted to argue back, but she remembered a few times Viljam seemed down. The boy kept telling it was nothing, but Yukiko didn't believe it.

"Alright, but please don't make him feel worse than he already is," Yukiko relented. With that plan on their minds, they were going to the Inn to interrogate Viljam.

 **(Amagi Inn. May 20th. After School)**

Yukiko and Chie were in front of VIljam's room. Chie had already knocked once, but there was no answer. Chie knocked again, more insistently.

"Go away." Was heard from inside. At least they knew Viljam was in there. Chie just opened the door and went in.

"Pardon the intrusion," Yukiko said out of courtesy. The girls saw Viljam on his couch, or at least a blanket covered lump that they thought was him.

"I said go away," Viljam said while shifting under his blanket. Yukiko wanted to leave Viljam alone, but Chie was not gonna have any of it. Chie walked towards Viljam and yanked the blanket off. "HEY," Viljam yelled, but then looked surprised to see Chie. "What are you doing here," Viljam asked the green clad girl as he stood up.

"To get you to tell what your problem is," Chie said sternly.

"Why? So you could realize how hideous I am," Viljam asked with a frown. Chie slapped Viljam in response.

"IDIOT! Why in the hell would you think you're hideous," Chie yelled at Viljam. The boy rubbed his cheeks, but he refused to cry this time. Yukiko had covered her mouth in horror.

Viljam looked at Chie and Yukiko a few times, before he sighed. "Promise me, you won't hate me," Viljam said while preparing himself to spit it out, lest Chie decides to kick him.

"How could we possibly hate you," Yukiko asked in disbelief. "Whatever it is, it can't make us hate you," Yukiko said, trying to encourage th boy.

Viljam took a few deep breaths. "What King Moron said in the class was a personal insult to me," Viljam explained. "So I snapped, that's it," Viljam said sounding ashamed.

Chie nodded, but this wasn't enough information. " What happened in the principle's office," Chie asked in a softer tone. Viljam was afraid to answer, but he already resolved himself to let it out.

"There was a certain piece of information I left out from my application form," Viljam told the girls, visibly uncomfortable about the subject. "I...have a learning disorder," Viljam said with difficulty.

Chie tilted her head. "So you're not very good at studying. Neither am I," Chie said not understanding the problem.

"Chie," Yukiko spoke up. "Learning disorder means, that his learning ability is less than an average person's regardless of intelligence," Yukiko explained, accidentally causing Viljam to slump.

"In my case, I have difficulty in understanding long texts or in some cases completely misunderstanding it," Viljam clarified, giving Chie a confused look. "Frankly, I shouldn't be able to learn anything that needs writing or reading," The Finnish boy finished, giving Chie and Yukiko a look of realization.

"But you can speak so fluently," Chie said in disbelief. Viljam had shown remarkable ability in japanese language. He may have a bit of an accent, but he can easily hold a conversation, and is able to understand what others are saying.

"I worked very hard for it," Viljam said, like it was a bad thing.

Chie couldn't believe her ears. "But that just makes you amazing. I mean, you managed to learn another language with a handicap," Chie explained, causing Viljam to look up. Yukiko decided to add her opinion in the mix.

"I may have helped you with study, but you were the one who answered all the questions," Yukiko said as a way to encourage Viljam.

Viljam slumped back on his couch. "...I'm sorry," Viljam said out of nowhere, surprising Chie and Yukiko. " My dad has been drilling something similar into my skull for years, but I just couldn't believe him," Viljam said again. "I guess I needed to hear that from someone outside my family. I'm sorry to bother you two," Viljam apologized again. Chie and Yukiko smiled at the boy.

"Nousku-kun, you shouldn't be sorry. We helped you because we wanted to," Yukiko said in a comforting tone. Chie also nodded.

"Yeah, that's what friends are for right," The green clad girl added, causing Viljam to smile shyly.

"...Thanks," Viljam said in embarrassment. Then all of a sudden he was wrapped into a hug, by Yukiko. Chie followed suit, causing Viljam to freeze. You'd think that Viljam was used to getting hugs from anyone thanks to his family, but no. If anyone outside his family hugs him, he gets nervous.

Chie and Yukiko quickly released the hug. "Are you f-feeling better now," Yukiko asked calmly. Truthfully it took every ounce of willpower for Yukiko not to get embarrassed from hugging Viljam. Chie on the other hand cursed the very philosophy she had followed in her life, 'Don't think, feel', because she hugged Viljam without thinking.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this," Chie threatened with a furious blush on her face. Viljam nodded quickly a little scared of Chie.

The awkward silence lasted for a few seconds, until Yukiko thought of something. "Now that your problem is known to the principle, what happens now," Yukiko asked. Now that it was revealed that Viljam had withheld information, there might be consequences.

"The principle told me that he would verify the information, but considering my test score it won't make a difference. He also told King Moron to take my condition into account when lecturing," Viljam informed. Even if Viljam wouldn't expect Morooka to be any nicer, he still felt happy that the principle overlooked the transgression just this once. And now, thanks to Yukiko and Chie, a heavy stone fell from his heart.

 **(TV World. May 21st. After School)**

Because the team didn't go to the TV world yesterday, Viljam felt guilty all day. When he finally dared to apologize, they all said it was okay. Today the team decided to go further into the sauna. Though Viljam was told to keep at least one shirt on in there, which he planned to regardless.

The gang had already made some more progress, but the shadows of the upper floors started to use mostly physical attacks, meaning Viljam had to stay on defense.

"Maybe I should've stayed behind," Viljam said in slight shame, as he avoided an arrow from a cupid-like shadow.

"Don't worry about it," Chie said encouragingly as she kicked the shadow in question to oblivion. "You can still use your weapon," The green clad girl added as Tomoe kicked a tigerlike shadow. The shadow got back up and charged again, only to be finished off by Yu's new persona. The masked demon warrior, Rakshasa.

"Besides, we don't know if your skills might be needed," Yu said in confidence. This cheered Viljam a little.

"MAGARU!" Sounded out and all the remaining cupid like shadows were scattered around by Jirayas wind. "Let's finish this," Yosuke called out and everyone rushed the shadows before they could get back up.

With the shadows down, the five continued on. At some point they came to a smaller rectangular room with another stove in the center. The sauna-like dungeon had multiple stoves, that were running on seemingly endless power, evenly placed around the hallways.

"What's that," Teddie asked as he approached a bucket that was placed on one of the wooden seats.

"A bucket," Yosuke stated the obvious.

"What's it doing here," Yukiko wondered aloud. So far they haven't seen anything like that in here.

"It's full of water," Yu said inspecting the contents of the bucket.

" Do you think we could cool ourselves off with it," Chie asked as she fanned herself with her jacket. Chie had taken off her jacket and tied it around her waist earlier, revealing her uniform top.

"The waters warm," Teddie said as he dipped his hand in it. How that bear was able to feel with his body that was the costume was beyond them. "Hey! What if we pour it on that stove and this area might become cooler," Teddie suggested. Yosuke was a little skeptical about the plan.

"Even if we did that I don't think shutting down one stove is going to cool the area," the head phone wearing boy said. Teddie however had already grabbed the bucket and approached the stove.

Viljam had sat down and was using his loose dark blue sports shirt, to cool himself. Then he noticed what Teddie was about to do. "TEDDIE! WAIT," Viljam cried, but it was too late. The bear had dumped the whole bucket of water on the stove. "HIT THE DECK," Viljam cried and dropped on the floor flat on his stomach. No one else reacted to it and soon everyone felt a blistering heat washing over them.

"AAGGHH! IT BURNS," Chie cried as she tried to extinguish non-existent flames on her head.

"MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE," Yukiko cried too as she felt prickling sensation on what little exposed skin she had.

Yu and Yosuke also felt a prickling sensation and were scratching all over their bodies, while running around like headless chickens. Teddie had fallen over and was struggling to get up. Only Viljam was spared, because he was on the floor. After a few agonizing moments(for others), Viljam dared to get up.

"Are you trying to smoke us out," Viljam asked, baffled at Teddie's stupidity.

Before Teddie could answer, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT," Chie roared in anger, causing Viljam to pick up Teddie and use him as a shield. Even though the girl wasn't angry at the Finnish boy, he was still scared.

"You damn bear! You caused us unbelieveable pain," Yosuke added in angry tone. Viljam dared to glance at Yosuke and noticed that his face and neck were filled with scratch marks. Yu was the same way.

"I'm sorry," Teddie said with a sniffle.

"Teddie. Please never do something like that again," Yu said calmly. Honestly, he wanted to be angry, but everyone makes mistakes and Teddie didn't do it on purpose.

"Melkoiset löylyt kyllä oli," Viljam said with a sigh earning questioning looks from others. After few seconds Viljam gave a translation, "Those were some löylyt.".

"What does that last one mean," Yukiko asked.

"...I don't know," Viljam said surprising everyone.

"What do you mean you don't know? It's your native," Yosuke asked in disbelief, causing Viljam to facepalm.

"What I mean is, I don't know a japanese equivalent," Viljam clarified, giving everyone a look of realization. Of course there would be words Viljam wouldn't know a japanese equivalent to, if they have one in the first place.

"Can you describe it," Yu asked now interested.

Viljam decided to try. "Well...How to say this. You take a ladleful of water and throw it on the stove, then you let the resulting steam wash over you," Viljam explained. Chie looked annoyed.

"How can anyone stand something so painful," Chie asked, while nursing her head that moments ago felt like it was burning.

"I said ladleful, not a whole bucket. Speaking of which, how come that stove is still running," Viljam said, causing everyone to look at the stove. Sure enough it was still glowing hot.

"Are you shitting me," Yosuke exclaimed in disbelief. A whole bucket and it hasn't even cooled.

"Remember where we are," Yu pointed out. Everyone remembered that they were in a place that defied all common sense.

After a few seconds, the group moved on. No one noticed Viljam snickering as they went. Because of the sudden rush of steam, the other four's hair was matted from the combination of steam and sweat. This reminded Viljam of a phrase, "märkä kuin uitettu rotta" or "wet like a dipped rat". The boy wisely kept that piece of information to himself. None of them would appreciate it, especially the girls.

 **(Some time later)**

The team has just reached a door, from where they could hear a giggling sound. "Manly" giggling.

"Umm...Sensei, this little bear is getting too scared to move on," Teddie said, disturbed by the voice.

"I understand Teddie," Yu said in sympathy. "But we have to go in there no matter how scared we are," The silver haired boy added. Aside from the fact that Yu wouldn't be able to live with himself if Kanji died in here, the fact that Viljam's words last time hit him pretty hard. Being less of a man than someone who is easily scared was kinda pathetic. "Everyone ready," Yu asked the team, receiving various confirmations. With that Yu opened the door to see a large shadow that looked like a body builder with pitch black skin. This shadow is called Daring Gigas. The shadow chuckled and beckoned them to come in. Everyone were ready to kick the shadows ass, so they rushed in.

"Let's go Tomoe," Chie shouted as she summoned Tomoe. The yellow jumpsuited samurai, swung her naginata at the shadow, but it clamped the blade between it's palms.

"Ares," Yu called forth the persona, who true to it's name looked like the greek god of war. Ares attacked the shadow forcing it to retreat a little.

"GARU," Yosuke called and Jiraiya hit the shadow with a blast of wind. The shadow staggered back, but didn't seem too hurt.

Daring Gigas let out a noise that sounded like a laugh, before it flashed twice briefly.

"It's powering up," Teddie warned everyone.

"TARUKAJA," Chie called out, empowering herself. She then proceeded to attack the shadow. Daring Gigas flashed two more times before it took Tomoes attack. While it did cry out in pain, it was still not going down.

"Guys be careful! It used Power Charge," Teddie cried in alarm.

Konohana Sakuya fired an Agilao at the Gigas, but it didn't slow it down. Louhi then snuck up used her only physical move, Poison Skewer. In response the Gigas turned towards Louhi and punched the persona with tremendous force. To everyone's horror, Louhi shattered like she was made of glass, and Viljam cried in agony before collapsing.

"Viljam is unconcious. Someone help him," Teddie panicked.

"RECARM," Yukiko called out and Konohana cast the reviving spell. Viljam was up in seconds, though he was staggering.

"Thanks," Viljam called. While this was happening Daring Gigas was powering up again, even though both Tomoe and Jiraiya were whaling on it.

Yosuke decided that he was having none of it," Oh no you dont! DEKAJA," Yosuke called out and Jiraiya negated Gigas' buffs.

"Power Charge can't be negated. Look out," Teddie warned again.

"TARUNDA," Viljam called and Louhi cast an attack de-buff. The Gigas attacked the nearest enemy, which happened to be Tomoe. Chie's persona took the hit, but was able to endure it, although Tomoe was now crackling.

"MEDIA!" and both Viljam and Chie were healed.

"Rakshasa, KILL RUSH," Yu switched personas and Rakshasa whaled on Daring Gigas.

"BUFULA!" Followed by Louhi's ice. Daring Gigas powered up again.

"Everyone on guard," Yu called out and everyone were preparing to block the next attack. The Daring Gigas decided to attack Yu, who guarded against the attack. Never mind that Yu was able to block the attack, Yu still had Rakshasa equipped, making him resistant to physical attacks.

"TARUKAJA," Chie called out giving the boost to Yu.

"While it's powering up, hit it with everything you have," Yu called out. The moment Daring Gigas started to power up, everyone attack with their respective personas.

"Tomoe! ASSAULT DIVE!"

"Jiraiya! SONIC PUNCH!"

"Rakshasa! KILL RUSH!"

"Yukiko-san, together," Viljam called to Yukiko who stood by the Finnish boy. "BUFULA! AGILAO!" The two called their strongest spells, however something strange happened. Instead of Louhi and Konohana Sakuya coming out to do their respective spells, a massive blue circle appeared beneath the two. Only then did Louhi and Konohana appear a few meters away from each other. The two Personas danced toward each other, until they were back to back pointing at Daring Gigas. As if sensing the danger, the shadow charged at the two Personas.

But before the shadow reached them Yukiko and Viljam called out one word that came to their minds as if they had always known it. "REVONTULET," The two called in unison and as soon as that was called, Daring Gigas was consumed by multicolored strings of flame. The shadow gave one last cry before it dissolved. As soon as last of the multicolored flames faded, Viljam and Yukiko fell on their knees in exhaustion.

The others were completely shocked by this.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?" Everyone cried in unison as they rushed to the two.

"How did you guys do that," Yosuke asked the two. Yukiko and VIljam looked towards one another and shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean," Chie asked the two.

It was Viljam who decided to answer, "It means, we don't know.".

"I'm sorry," Yukiko said like she did something bad. Yu had wracked his brains for what happened, getting only one theory.

"Guys, have you noticed, that Amagi-san and Nousku have the same Arcana," Yu decided to ask.

In response, Yosuke and Chie looked surprised. Yu had explained that the cards they call forth to summon their personas were tarot cards and that the pictures on them represent an Arcana.

"Are you serious," Chie asked.

Viljam and Yukiko quickly called forth their tarot cards and sure enough, they had the same Arcana printed on them. The High Priestess.

"You're right," Yukiko confirmed after seeing the same Arcana on Viljam's card.

"Are you telling me that those two were able to pull a super move, because they share the same Arcana," Yosuke asked in jealousy. Though whether it was for Viljam being able to do that at all, or with Yukiko was anyone's guess.

"I don't think it's that simple," Teddie piped up surprising everyone. "I mean, if it were, wouldn't Yuki-chan and Villy have been able to do so before already," The bear said, causing everyone to stare at him. "What?".

"Since when were you smart," Yosuke asked, causing Yukiko and Viljam to laugh.

"HEY," Teddie cried in protest, which made Viljam and Yukiko laugh harder.

"I'm really starting to think Nousku-kun is Yukiko's long lost twin," Chie commented on the two laughing teens.

"Maybe that's why they can use Twin Arcana," Yu said, which caused everyone to look at him curiously. Even Viljam and Yukiko stopped laughing.

"Twin Arcana," Yukiko repeated.

"Well, it sounds cool," Yu said, surprising everyone. No one thought Yu would name something for a reason like that.

"Twin Arcana, Twin Arcana. You're right, it has a nice ring to it," Viljam said after testing the name a few times. The Finnish boy then struck a pose. "TREMBLE BEFORE THE POWER OF TWIN ARCANA," Viljam called out in a tone fit for a villain, complete with evil laughter, which sounded terrifyingly convincing.

"BOW BEFORE US, OR BE CRUSHED UNDER OUR HEEL," Yukiko joined in, causing everyone to sweatdrop.

Chie was starting to think that Viljam was a bad influence for Yukiko. "Okay that's enough you two," Chie said, glad that they were the only ones here. Yukiko and Viljam stopped, but they looked dismayed at their fun stopping too soon.

"Satonaka...I think you hit the nail on the head for a change," Yosuke commented about Viljam being Yukiko's twin.

"What do you mean 'for a change'," Chie asked in annoyance.

"Are you two still good to go," Yu asked Yukiko and Viljam while the other two were having an argument. The two nodded in unison.

"Let's move just a little further and then see how we'll do," Yu said as he led the way. Yosuke and Chie stopped their argument just in time to follow suit.

 **(Later)**

The group had advanced few more floors. In between they returned to the lobby where they bought healing leaves from the fox. What the fox would do with the money was beyond them, though Yu guessed that the fox would probably put them into the offeratory box.

"I can't believe those leaves actually work," Yosuke marvelled as the group had now advanced several more floors. They however didn't want to rely on the fox's leaves too much, because the prices it was asking felt unreasonable.

"Yeah. I feel much better," Viljam added in.

"Say, Nousku-kun. Do you think you and Yukiko can do that move again now," Chie asked.

"I don't think we can," Viljam said in shame. The two holders of Priestess Arcana have tried to repeat the attack they used, but they couldn't do it. When asked to remember how they did it, they only said that they just did.

"Is it my fault," Yukiko asked unsurely. Viljam patted her head in response.

"I don't think that's it. Maybe it's one of those 'Feeling the Moment' things," Viljam said trying to encourage Yukiko.

"That sounded dumb," Yosuke said, earning a frown from Chie.

"Come on, that kind of thing happens all the time in movies. The hero is about to be beaten, but then he manages to pull off a killer move with sheer will," Chie said, referring to one of her Kung Fu movies.

"Or maybe there's a hidden condition, we need to fulfill," Viljam added in. "Like a hidden meter or something," the boy continued earning questioning looks from others. "Sorry, I shouldn't use video game logic," Viljam said.

" Actually, maybe the hidden condition thing is plausible," Yu said as he had a realization. "Maybe figuring out the name of the move you used helps too," the silver haired boy said referring to what Viljam and Yukiko called the attack as they launched it.

"I don't think understanding a single Finnish word helps," Viljam said earning exclamation marks from others.

"You know that word!?" Everyone exclaimed.

"Why didn't you tell us," Chie asked in annoyance.

"You never asked," Viljam replied, causing everyone minus Yukiko to sweatdrop.

"So...What is it," Teddie asked in curiosity. Viljam opened his mouth, but then had a thoughtful look, which soon changed to a panicked expression.

"You don't know the japanese equivalent, do you," Yu deadpanned. Viljam nodded and everyone, but Yu fell back in shock. "Try describing it," Yu said and with that Viljam started thinking hard.

"Do you know the phenomenon, where you see string-like lights in the night sky," Viljam asked after careful thinking.

"You mean a shooting star," Chie guess.

Viljam shook his head. "A shooting star lasts for an instant, the lights I'm talking about are constant. They also change shape constantly, looking like a...wave," Viljam explained further. "They also have multiple colors," The Finnish added.

"Oh. You mean an aurora," Yukiko said in realization.

"I'm not sure if that's the correct word but it will do for now," Viljam said.

"What's the direct translation," Yosuke asked. If the word was in Finnish there might be deeper meaning to it...Other than one of the two Persona users being Finnish.

"Fires of fox," Viljam said, surprising everyone.

"Why," Yosuke asked, Teddie was also interested.

"Because according to an old folklore, a fox swiped its tail at a hill causing sparks, causing what we call 'revontulet'," Viljam explained as best as he could.

"That sounds cool," Yukiko said with stars in her eyes. Chie too thought it sounded cool.

"Finnish folklore sounds kinda fun," Yosuke too admitted, causing Viljam to smile.

"I have an interest in folklore. Also Japan has it's fair share of folklores that I have found interesting," Viljam said with a smile.

" **OHH. Will the thing I search for finally appear?** " Everyone jumped at hearing the voice of Kanji's Shadow. Everyone looked around, but the shadow was nowhere to be seen. **"Come out, come out wherever you are!** " The purring noise the voice was making, made all the guys scared. Viljam once again covered his ears, but nothing was heard anymore.

Teddie tugged Yu's jacket a few times to gain his attention. " Sensei, I don't know if I can move on," Teddie said in a frightened tone.

"We are not backing down," Chie said sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," Yu and Yosuke said in defeat. The green clad girl then grabbed Viljam's hand and began dragging him along, despite the boy's weak protests.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I think my writing underwent another evolution here, though whether it's good or bad, I'll let my dear readers decide.**

 **I personally am very satisfied with how this chapter turned out.**

 **Fun fact of the day: I actually had to search for a couple words because I didn't know their english equivalents from the start.**

 **Translations:**

löylyt **= Steam bath (that's what the dictionary told me, but as I wondered if I should have Viljam know that, I thought: "Why would Viljam know that in advance")**

revontulet= **Aurora(Another word I decided was something Viljam wouldn't know an equivalent for.)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 **Author's notes:**

 **Sorry to keep you waiting. I had a bit of a writer's block.**

 **I'm starting to think that I should give each chapter more of a theme, but I'm trying to keep the chapters within certain lengths. Constructive criticism would be appreciated more than ever now. You can give the criticism in the reviews or PM me.**

 **Lastly, I'm tempted to ask an artist to draw Louhi, because I can't draw to save my life. If you're interested, PM me please.**

 **As usual Translations will be found in the bottom Author's notes.**

* * *

 **(Daidara Metal works. May 22nd. Daytime)**

Yesterday, the team had made it to the final floor. At least according to Teddie. As much as they wanted to just go on, Yu had decided that they would fall back for the day. Chie's protests were answered by pointing at Viljam, who looked like he could keel over any moment. Truthfully everyone was tired, and they needed to be at full strength when they faced Kanji's Shadow.

Yu had called everyone to Daidara's for weapon upgrades. As they explored the TV world Yu had picked up some strange things that the shadows dropped upon their death. Daidara said he might be able to make some new "art" out of them.

Viljam looked at his new kusarigama with a weird gleam. the Finnish boy couldn't wait to get to try the new serrated blade on something.

"Dude you're weird," Yosuke commented when he caught the gleam in the boys eyes.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Viljam said while waving the weight end of the weapon experimentally.

"Seriously, Nousku-kun. You look like a crazy killer," Chie said as she tried her new greaves.

Viljam shook his head in response. "A crazy killer would look like this," Viljam said and took on a maniacal grin, with eyes so wide that they looked unnatural. Viljam completed the look by playfully twirling the sickle end of the weapon.

"Don't do that," Chie cried while stepping back in fear. Viljam instantly adorned his normal face and looked apologetic. "How do you do that," Chie asked the boy.

"Do what," Viljam asked while tilting his head.

Yu caught on to the conversation. "How do you switch from crazy killer to your usual self so quickly," Yu clarified for Chie.

"I guess I'm just a natural actor," Viljam replied with a shrug.

"Why don't you try acting career then," Yukiko suggested missing the point of this topic.

"No thanks. If I'm put on stage, I'll probably just faint or something," Viljam said in slight embarrassment.

"In any case we should be prepared now," Yosuke said, while pocketing his new daggers.

"Let's save Kanji-kun today," Yukiko joined in with determination. Everyone agreed.

 **(TV World. May 22nd. Some time later)**

The gang rushed in through the final door. The room was large, with two large tubs right next to the doors. Further in they saw Kanji and his shadow.

"Kanji," Yosuke called out to punk.

"I-I...," Kanji stuttered.

" **Oh come now, enough with the charade,** " Kanji's shadow piped up. " **Isn't it awful to deceive people? To deceive yourself,** " the shadow added. " **What's so bad about doing what I want to do,** " the shadow said.

"T-that has nothing to do with it..." Kanji argued.

" **I'm what you really want, aren't I,** " The shadow said with a flamboyant tone.

"Hell no," Kanji shouted.

"Guys, if we don't want a fight, we gotta stop this," Viljam said, reminding everyone where this was probably going.

"Yeah," Chie agreed. The other two guys also agreed.

" **Ooh, no you don't,** " the shadow said, and as if on cue the two tubs overflowed with water, covering the area the gang was standing on.

"Is this supposed to slow us-EEHH," Chie yelped as she slipped on the floor. Yukiko tried to stop Chie's fall, but she was dragged down with the green clad girl. When that happened Viljam slowly lowered himself to touch the liquid.

"This isn't water," Viljam said as he rubbed the slippery substance between his fingers. Meanwhile Teddie tried to help the girls up, but he slipped too.

"Yu, please tell me you have a camera," Yosuke suddenly piped up. earning a questioning look from Viljam.

"I'm sorry, but I don't," Yu said in clear disappointment despite his calm demeanor. Viljam looked at what the two were staring at and his face went red. As the girls struggled to get back up, the oily liquid stained their clothes, causing the fabric to cling onto their bodies. The guys were unable to resist the sight, not even Viljam could tear his eyes away.

As the gang was struggling with their problem, Kanji's shadow decided to continue it's talk." **Ohh. How I hate girls...** " The shadow said, bringing the guys back to the problem at hand. " **So arrogant and self centered! They cry if you get angry, they gossip behind your back, they spread nasty lies...,** " The shadow continued in anger. " **They look at me like I'm some disgusting THING and say that I'm a weirdo! Laughing at me all the while,** " The shadow was practically yelling now. " **'You like to sew? What a freak?' 'Painting is so not you.',** " The shadow yelled while imitating girls voice. " **'But you're a guy... You don't act like a guy... Why aren't you manly?',** " The shadow continued, all the while the team kept slipping on the floor.

"Damn it, this isn't good," Yosuke complained as he realized where this was going, if they didn't stop the shadows' monologue. Yosuke tried to summon his persona, but the acrobatic move he uses to do so caused him to slip. Yu also had lost his footing. The only reason Viljam was still standing was because he hasn't tried to move yet.

"Hmm. Näinköhän," Viljam mumbled while taking careful steps towards the wall. Once he reached it, the Finnish boy pushed himself towards the other side of the puddle. This allowed him to reach more stable ground. "Girls, grab on," Viljam called as he threw the weight end of his weapon for girls to grab on.

While this was happening, Kanji's shadow kept monologuing, which made Kanji adopt a pained expression. " **What does it mean to be a guy? What does it mean to be manly? Girls are so scary,** " Kanji's shadow said, while Viljam was pulling the girls to dry floor.

"I ain't scared of them," Kanji yelled at his shadow.

" **Men are much better,** " The shadow said, causing Viljam and the other guys to feel a sudden chill. " **They'd never say those awful degrading things. Yes, I vastly prefer men...** " The shadow said while hugging itself. The real Kanji did not like what he was hearing.

"Hell with that! What makes you think you can say that shit with my face," Kanji yelled.

Shadow Kanji looked confused. " **Why, you're me... and I'm you... You do know that don't you,** " The shadow said, like it was obvious.

"No.. Nuh-uh! No way," Kanji yelled in horror. By this time, Viljam had pulled everyone on stable footing. "There's no way in hell that you're me," Kanji yelled, earning a look of horror from the gang as they knew what was coming now.

" **You're me and there's no denying it,** " Shadow Kanji laughed as it transformed, knocking Kanji out in the process.

Kanji's shadow transformed into a enormous muscular half black half white body, with a bed of roses on the top. In that rose bed was Shadow Kanji itself. The large body also wielded two enormous mars symbols as weapons. In addition two half black half white muscular men appeared next to Shadow Kanji.

"Shit, here we go," Yosuke complained as he summoned his persona, with others following suit.

" **I am a shadow, the true self,** " Shadow Kanji said the phrase that seems to be the catchphrase of human form shadows. " **I'm just being true to myself. And that's why, I'LL GET RID OF EVERYTHING IN MY WAY,** " the shadow roared.

"Everyone attack," Yu called out. With that, Tomoe, Jiraiya and Izanagi advanced. The two large males got in front of Shadow Kanji. Tomoe gave one of them a kick to the side.

" **Come on baby,** " The thing said, causing everyone's jaw to drop. Not only did the attack not do anything, but the thing seemed to enjoy it.

"WHAT THE HELL," Chie cried.

"It drains physical attacks," Teddie informed. After hearing that information, Yukiko used an Agilao against the other one.

" **OH! Nice,** " it cried with a disturbing glee.

"No way," Yukiko cried.

"Teddie, what's going on!? Why are those two here," Yu asked not liking the situation.

"They must be part of Kanji's Shadow," Teddie said simply.

Yu sent Izanagi to attack, but one of the Guys caught the Persona. " **What a stud,** " it exclaimed. Yu quickly switched Izanagi to Rakshasa.

"How's this," Viljam shouted as Louhi sent a Tentarafoo at them, but it didn't work. "How about a BUFULA," Viljam exclaimed in annoyance and Louhi cast the spell.

" **So cool,** " the Guy said, clearly enjoying it.

"Eikö mikään tehoa," Viljam complained in utter disbelief, forgetting that no one understood what he just said.

"Damn it," Yu exclaimed as he ordered Rakshasa to attack Shadow Kanji, only for the shadow that took Viljam's ice to catch the Persona, and Jiraiya too.

"This isn't going...," Yosuke's complaint was cut as he felt something grope him. Yu received the same treatment. Viljam and the girls turned around to see one of the Guys had snuck up on them.

"MITEN," Viljam cried in disbelief. Something that big shouldn't have been able to sneak up on them. Yosuke and Yu collapsed with lifeless looks in their eyes.

"It broke their spirit," Teddie cried in distress. Viljam instantly backed away from the others.

Chie didn't like the situation. "What are we gonna do? Two of the guys are down," Chie said in worry.

"It's okay, they're not interested in us," Yukiko replied. Then she noticed that the Guy that groped the boys was staring at them. "I think," Yukiko added unsurely.

" **Hideous christmas lights** ," the thing said to the girls.

"WHAT!?" Came from the girls, who called their personas to whale on the guy. Tomoe's strikes just healed it, but Konohana's flames were hurting it. Unfortunately the girls were too blinded by rage to realize this.

"Babes calm down! Please," Teddie cried out, but the girls weren't reacting.

"MIKÄ!?" suddenly rang out. Teddie turned towards the voice to see Louhi clawing the other Guy without mercy. Actually Louhi was straddling on the Guy's chest while skewering the helpless thing with her claws endlessly, while Viljam was shouting something in anger. If Teddie had known Finnish, he would've probably been scared out of his stuffing at all the gruesome threats Viljam was shouting at the Guy. Teddie also noticed that the Guy was poisoned, due to Louhi's physical attacks being Poison Skewers.

While the girls and Viljam were busy, Shadow Kanji stepped towards the downed guys. " **So easy. Now to get rid of you two,** " the Shadow threatened as it lifted it's two weapons.

"Sensei and Yosuke are in danger! HELP! SOMEONE," Teddie cried in panic when he noticed what was about to happen. This woke the girls and Viljam from their rage.

"TOMOE! KONOHANA SAKUYA! LOUHI," the three shouted in unison. Louhi instantly cast Tarunda on Shadow Kanji. With the Shadow's attack power lowered, Tomoe was able to block both weapons with her naginata. Konohana Sakuya used Agilao to repel the Shadow.

" **Why don't you just stay down,** " The shadow said, before slamming both weapons down, sending a large wave of electricity at the team. Everyone cried in pain, while the Shadow was clearly enjoying their pain. " **Such lovely voices,** " The shadow cheered, but was then hit by Rakshasa's Kill Rush. Followed by a Sonic Punch in the face from Jiraiya. The shadows' attack managed to snap the guys back into fighting spirit.

"We're not done yet," Yu said to the Shadow. "Amagi-san, heal us," Yu ordered, and Yukiko cast a Media. While this was happening, the Guy that the girls were previously ganging on had approached Yukiko. "Hua Po," Yu called out, switching Rakshasa for a red woman with butterfly wings, which cast an Agilao at the approaching thing. The Guy cried in pain as it staggered back. "Satonaka-san, Nousku, use ice on the other one," Yu called out. Chie and Viljam did as they were ordered to.

"Together, Chie-san," Viljam called to the green clad girl, who gave an enthusiastic nod. "BUFULA! BUFU," The two called in unison and their Personas fired a combined ice spell at the still poisoned Guy, knocking it down.

"Let's finish it," Chie shouted as she and Viljam charged at the downed Guy.

While this was happening Yukiko and Yu were using fire magic, to slowly burn the other Guy. Yosuke was keeping Shadow Kanji busy, by using hit and run tactics. Unfortunately Yosuke messed up one run and the Shadow smacked the headphone wearing boy towards Yu and Yukiko. The shadow then saw what Viljam and Chie were doing to one of the guys. " **NO! My Nice Guy! You disgusting girls will pay for this,** " The shadow roared as it charged at the two.

Chie quickly grabbed Viljam and ran away just in time to avoid on overhead strike from the Shadow, causing it to hit the Nice Guy instead- That finished the Shadow's assistant off. " Phew that was close," Chie said, while Viljam became enraged as he realized what the Shadow said a moment ago.

"EN OLE TYTTÖ," Viljam roared as he threw the sickle end of his weapon at the shadow which was easily blocked. The shadow then tried to attack the two again, but Chie was able to drag the Finnish boy out of harms way.

The Shadow would've kept coming at them, if Yu and Yosuke hadn't attacked from behind. Yu and Yukiko had finished the other Guy already. "Amagi-san, Nousku, if you could use your super attack, now would be the best time," Yu shouted. This made both Viljam and Yukiko adorn an evil smile.

"Yukiko-san, let's do this," Viljam called as he rushed to Yukiko's side. The two tried to summon their personas in unison, since that's how it worked last time. Just like last time, a large blue circle appeared beneath the two and Konohana and Louhi went through the same motions as last time.

"This is for calling me hideous(a girl), REVONTULET," the pair yelled in unison, and Shadow Kanji was engulfed by multicolored flames.

"Did we get him," Yukiko asked no one in particular. Her answer came in the form of still smoldering Shadow Kanji charging at them. Viljam quickly pushed Yukiko away, before calling Louhi to defend himself. Shadow Kanji easily swatted the Persona away and by extension Viljam, who was downed by his weakness to physical attacks.

" **What's wrong with doing whatever I want!? I already said I would get rid of you,** " The Shadow roared, as it raised it's weapons to finish Viljam, who was trying to get up.

"It's weak! Finish it off," Teddie shouted to others while waving his paws frantically.

"IZANAGI!"

"JIRAIYA!"

"TOMOE!"

"KONOHANA SAKUYA!"

Konohana Sakuya and Jiraiya fired their respective elemental spells together, combusting Shadow Kanji's rosebed. Izanagi and Tomoe struck the Shadows true body with their respective weapons, causing it to revert with a desperate cry. With the Shadow out of the picture Chie ran towards Viljam.

"Nousku-kun, are you okay," Chie asked in worry.

"...I'm still breathing at least," Viljam said, not sure how else he should answer. Chie wasn't sure if she should frown or smile at the answer. Regardless the green clad girl then turned towards Yukiko.

"Yukiko, can you heal Nousku-kun," Chie asked her best friend. Yukiko nodded and cast a healing spell on Viljam. Thanks to the healing, Viljam was able to stand up.

"Guys we got a problem," Yosuke yelled to the three. Yu and Yosuke checked if Kanji was alright, the punk did get up with some effort. Unfortunately they noticed that Kanji's Shadow also got up while blabbering something about a passionate approach. Teddies eyes widened in realization.

"It's still coming at us! Kanji's still rejecting it," Teddie exclaimed in fear. As soon as they heard that, Viljam and the girls quickly ran to the others.

"It's like with Nousku again," Yu said while readying his sword.

"I don't think this will end the same way though," Yosuke said in slight worry. Viljam couldn't help but agree with this. He couldn't see how anyone was able to accept something like that.

" **I think you two... would make wonderful boyfriends,** " Kanji's shadow said while eyeing Yu and Yosuke. This caused the two to go pale as ghosts.

"Stop it! Y-you got it all wrong," Yosuke stuttered in panic.

"Stop...What the hell are you blabbering about," Kanji managed to say.

" **I don't care who! Won't someone, anyone, please accept me,** " The shadow cried while approaching the team with it's arms spread wide.

"Stop it," Kanji shouted at the shadow.

" **Accept me for who I am,** " the shadow cried again while slowly getting closer. Yosuke and Yu began to back off now.

"But I don't swing that way," Yosuke cried in panic.

"I said stop it," Kanji yelled as he charged at his shadow, punching it square in the face knocking the shadow down. "Tch. Can't believe something like this is inside me," Kanji said in defeated tone, surprising everyone.

"Kanji you're...," Yosuke said, too amazed to finish the sentence. Kanji ignored Yosuke and focused on his shadow.

"Yeah I know..I've known all this time I had something like you," Kanji said in anger to his shadow. "It ain't about guys or chicks. I'm just scared shitless of being rejected," the delinquent admitted. "I'm a total pansy who's trying to make everyone hate me," Kanji finished with a defeated look.

"You're not alone. Everyone has something similar," Yu said in a comforting tone. Judging by Kanji's expression, that was exactly what he needed to hear.

"Come on, get up. Anyone who looks like me, can't be so weak that they can't take a punch," Kanji said to his shadow. The shadow did as it was told. "I already know that you're me. You're me...and I'm you dammit," Kanji said. The shadow nodded, before transforming into Kanji's persona.

The persona in question was a giant black robot, with a skeleton painted on it's body. It was also holding a giant lightning bolt shaped sword. This is Kanji's persona, Take Mikazuchi.

"Ah..shit," Kanji complained as he collapsed on the floor after his persona faded.

"Kanji-kun," Yukiko said in worry.

"Let's get him out of here," Yosuke said as he and Yu helped him up.

 **(Junes. May 22nd. Few minutes later.)**

Luckily for the Investigation team, the electronics department was empty today. So there were no eyewitnesses to see the gang coming out of the TV.

"You okay," Viljam asked Kanji, who didn't look too well.

"It's nothing," Kanji replied in a tired voice. Then he chuckled. "I feel great. It's like my minds cleared up," the punk said in good spirits.

"You don't need to act so tough," Yu said with a smile.

Kanji then had a thoughtful look. "Hey... about what just happened..," Kanji said clearly curious.

"You should get home to rest. We'll tell you when you're better," Yu said, to which everyone else agreed.

"You better," Kanji said in a stern tone. Yosuke then stepped forward.

"I'll take this guy home," Yosuke offered. "If anyone asks, I'll just say I found him like this," Yosuke told his plan. It was a little weak in Viljam's opinion, but it should pass.

 **(Aiya's. May 25th. After school)**

It has been few days since the Investigation team rescued Kanji, now they had nothing to do, but wait for him to recover. Yu had been spending time with his friends when he could. Yosuke worked part time at Junes as usual. Yukiko helped around the Amagi Inn as far as Viljam knew. Speaking of the Finnish boy, he had been asked by Chie to train with her. Or if we're being truthful Chie practically dragged Viljam to train, because she wanted to "rid Viljam of his weakness". Today Viljam was saved from training by the rain, however Chie had dragged him to do the Mega Beef Bowl challenge at Aiya's, since it was the rainy day.

So here they were, waiting for the Mega Bowls, while Chie was trying to chat with Viljam. Key word "trying".

"So...Are you feeling any stronger yet," Chie asked nervously, which in turn made Viljam nervous.

"Umm...I'm pretty sure I need to wait for weeks before showing any results," Viljam said with equal nervousness. "I mean, it's only been few days," Viljam added. Surprisingly, Chie had been mindful of Viljam's limits during the training, though the boy did have a coughing fit twice.

"Right," Chie simply said and that ended the conversation for the next few minutes.

"Is...something wrong," Viljam asked carefully, but Chie still flinched.

"No! No! Nothings wrong, why would anything be wrong," Chie said while waving her hands in defense. Before Viljam could elaborate, their Mega Bowls were brought to them. Viljam's eyes widened, while Chie's lit up with sparks. Chie wasn't kidding, these bowls were enormous. In fact Viljam remembers that there was a salad bowl about this size back in his home in Finland, and that bowl can be filled with enough salad for four people. A person with a regular appetite, might worry about the size of this Mega Bowl, but Viljam was excited to try and devour this thing.

"You weren't joking, this thing looks like it could lead to meat dimension," Viljam said happily, which made Chie give a triumphant smile. Then a light bulb went off in her head.

"Hey, how about a contest? Who can eat more. The loser has to do what the winner says," Chie suddenly issued challenged Viljam. The Finnish boy considered the deal, until he gave his answer.

"Within reason," Viljam added to the prize, because he didn't want to risk losing and having to do something terrible because of it.

"Deal," Chie accepted, and with that. The two began their eating contest.

 **(40 minutes later)**

Chie was confident with her stomach, since she trains regularly. Meaning she would need a lot of energy. However, not even she could keep her quick pace up for long. Chie had made a large dent to the dish, but she still couldn't see the rice. She still refused to throw in the towel, until Viljam gave up himself.

"I can't do this. I can't believe I can't finish this," Viljam complained as he put down his chopsticks in defeat. Chie sighed in relief, while putting down her chopsticks. "I don't even like rice in the first place," Viljam complained, causing Chie's alarm bells to ring. The green clad girl checked Viljam's bowl and to her horror, Viljam had cleaned his bowl of meat, only the rice was left. Chie took a look at her own bowl and she couldn't even see the rice in her bowl despite the having eaten a lot of the meat.

"How," Chie asked in disbelief. "I thought no one could match me," Chie said with slight depression.

"I like to call myself a carnivore, since my diet tends to be protein heavy," Viljam said, while moving in his seat, searching for a more comfortable position.

"Why didn't you tell me," Chie asked with slight anger.

"You didn't ask," was Viljam's simple reply, causing Chie to hang her head in embarrasment. "So? This means you have to do one thing I tell you," Viljam asked wanting to confirm his prize.

"...yes," Chie said in a small voice. Part of her feared what Viljam would make her do, but she remembered that the boy himself added "within reason" at the end.

"You'll have to wait until I have the strength to move again," Viljam said with a yawn. "Then I'll try to think of something," the Finnish boy added. At least this gave Chie some safety, maybe Viljam will forget it. Then Chie decided to ask something that had been on her mind, but hasn't dared to ask before.

"Nousku-kun, can I ask you something," Chie asked carefully. Viljam looked at Chie with curiosity, before nodding for her to go ahead. "Why did you get angry at Kanji's shadow," the green clad girl asked, which made Viljam extremely nervous.

"It's nothing important," Viljam said, hoping that Chie would leave it at that. She wouldn't.

"If it's nothing important then you wouldn't mind telling me," Chie said while giving Viljam an inquisitive look. The Finnish boy caved in at both the look and Chie's logic.

"...That shadow and it's...Guy called me a disgusting _girl_ ," Viljam said while hanging his head in shame. " I know, it's stupid, but I just couldn't hold my anger," the Finnish boy added. Chie blinked twice, before bursting into laughter, making Viljam more uncomfortable. "Ei saa nauraa," Viljam complained. Chie didn't need a translation to know what that meant.

"Sorry," Chie managed to say between giggles. "But if you looked like a girl to them, then they were either blind or stupid," Chie said, while giggling. That comment made Viljam feel a little better.

"Thanks," Viljam said, still slightly depressed.

Chie caught onto the boy's depression. "Oh please. You're a guy through and through no matter what anyone says," Chie said in an attempt to cheer Viljam up, which worked.

"You're right," Viljam said with a smile. "It just reminded me of a time I questioned that," the Finnish boy added, earning a curious look from Chie.

"What do you mean," Chie asked the boy, who flinched.

"It's nothing," Viljam said hoping that Chie wasn't interested enough to pry further.

"Hey! You can't leave me hanging after saying something like that," Chie complained. Part of Viljam wanted to keep that information to himself, but he understood that Chie was right.

"I noticed in middle school, that I didn't share the interests of most guys. I liked stuffed animals or anything cute for that matter, I hate fps games, my idea of an awesome guy was different from others. etc," Viljam listed, surprising Chie a little. "After a long internal debate on why I'm like that, I blamed my interests on growing up in a female dominated house," Viljam said with a laugh. Though Chie wasn't sure how to interpret the last part.

"Okay," Chie said unsurely. "But you no longer question yourself right," Chie asked for confirmation.

"Not really," Viljam said with a smile. "It's kinda like asking what a normal person is. Everyone does or is interested in something that another thinks is weird," Viljam said sagely.

"Wow. That's deep," Chie commented impressed.

"Not really. It's just something I realized at some point," Viljam replied in slight embarrassment. Then he looked at Chie's unfinished bowl. "On another note, I don't think I've met a girl capable of eating that much meat," Viljam said, changing the subject.

"I know, weird right," Chie said with a chuckle, covering her worry.

"No it's just new to me," Viljam said simply. "I guess you need the protein to rebuild your muscles from training," the Finnish boy noted. Chie felt some pride at the remark, her leg power is no joke after all.

"I'm still going to beat this Mega Bowl one day," Chie said with determination. "Maybe I should starve myself," The green clad girl thought aloud.

"That won't work," Viljam said earning Chie's attention again. "If you starve yourself, your stomach will shrink, which gives you less room to fill than now," Viljam informed. " Besides, you would get so hungry that your stomach hurts, and that isn't pleasant," Viljam said in lecturing tone.

"Are you talking from experience," Chie asked teasingly.

"Picky eater, remember," Viljam reminded the girl. It was true, Viljam was unable to eat many foods when he was smaller. Every other foodstuff caused him to vomit. This made Viljam extremely reluctant, to try different foods. Nowdays it's not as bad, but he still refuses to even try certain foods.

"That sucks," Chie said in sympathy. Chie isn't too picky when it comes to food, but she clearly prefers meat. The thought of not being able to eat some things wasn't pleasant. Their conversation was interrupted by Aiya's owner.

"Sorry to interrupt, but those would be 3000 yen each," said the owner of Aiya. Viljam's jaw dropped at this.

"That's 30 euros," The Finnish boy cried in horror. Chie wasn't familiar with Finnish currency, but she thinks that Finnish currency numbers are too small.

The two paid their meals and stepped outside.

"Could we do this again sometime," Viljam asked Chie, who instantly blushed for some reason. "What did I say," Viljam asked in slight panic of Chie's reaction.

"Are you...asking me out," Chie asked. Viljam wondered for a few seconds what Chie meant. Then his face went equally red as he realized how Chie interpreted his words.

"I...uh...I...," Viljam stuttered, unable to answer. When the Finnish boy asked the question, the thought of it being a date didn't even cross his mind. "...If you want to think of it that way," Viljam said in a small voice, but Chie managed to hear him.

"Uhh...I don't know," Chie said unsurely. Viljam instantly deflated as he took Chie's answer as a no.

"I'm sorry, please forget I said anything," Viljam said before running as fast as he could. Chie wanted to call after him, but was unable to.

 **(Chie's home. May 25th. Evening)**

Chie was mentally beating herself. "Why did I have to make things awkward," the green clad girl whined. while kicking the punching bag that was set up in her room. She could've punched it too, but kicking felt more satisfying. Why did she have to think of Viljam's offer as a date. Worst thing for Chie was, she wasn't entirely against it being a date. As much as Chie has protested on Yosuke calling Viljam her boyfriend, that thought was slowly becoming more pleasant with each day. Now however, the green clad girl blew away any chance she had.

Chie then flopped down to her bed, and covered her head with a pillow. "Why can't I keep my mouth shut," Chie whined again. "What am I going to do," Chie wondered sadly as she didn't think she could even face Viljam tomorrow.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **There you have it folks. One pairing I'm trying to do is indeed Viljam/Chie. Why? Because Chie is my personal favorite of the P4 females. Since this is my first fanfic, it will also be my first attempt at romance. I don't know if it will be any good, but I know one thing: Considering both Chie's and Viljam's personality and dating experience(or lack of it), this won't be easy.**

 **Translations from Finnish:**

Näinköhän= **I wonder(Probably not accurate, but closest I could get)**

Eikö mikään tehoa = **Doesn't anything work**

MIKÄ!?= **WHAT!?(as in "what did you call me")**

EN OLE TYTTÖ = **I'M NOT A GIRL**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 **Author's notes:**

 **Here we are again. The chapter where we see if Chie and Viljam can kiss and make up.**

 **Translations will be found in the bottom notes.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. May 26th. After school)**

Chie and Viljam were avoiding each other. Although that was practically impossible during classes, the two took every chance they could get out of each others precense. Now after classes, Viljam practically ran away, while Chie waited for a moment, before she too started going home with Yukiko, who stayed behind with Chie.

"Chie, did something happen with Nousku-kun yesterday," Yukiko asked Chie, causing the green clad girl to flinch.

"No. Why would you think that," Chie said with an unconvincing tone.

"Because you and him have been avoiding each other," Yukiko replied as if it were obvious. Truthfully, Yosuke and Yu noticed too, but they decided to leave the two be for now. Yukiko was a little worried at why the two seemed to be uncomfortable in each other's presence.

Chie sighed at her best friends observance. "I did something stupid and now Nousku-kun hates me," Chie said in defeated tone. Yukiko looked confused.

"Did you beat him up," Yukiko asked in horror.

Chie was baffled at how Yukiko came to that conclusion. "What!? No, why would you think that," Chie asked clearly offended.

"Because other than that, I can't think of anything you could've done that would result in him hating you," Yukiko replied easily. This made Chie feel a little relieved, but only a little.

" I said something that I think offended him, though I don't know why. Now I don't know what I should do," Chie confessed her problem. Yukiko had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Have you tried apologizing yet," Yukiko asked. Chie gave her best friend a look that said "really?".

"He doesn't even want to talk to me, how am I supposed to do that," Chie said in depression. Yukiko wasn't sure how to do that either.

Then the idea hit her. "How about getting him to the school roof tomorrow. If you block the exit when he gets in, he will have no choice but to hear you out," Yukiko suggested. Chie wasn't sure of the idea, but if it allowed her to talk things out with Viljam it might be worth it.

"Alright, but how are we going to get him to the roof," Chie asked Yukiko.

"Leave that to me," Yukiko said with confidence. Chie wasn't sure if Yukiko knew what she was doing, but the green clad girl had no time to think about it, because she had to turn to a different direction to reach her house.

Some time after the two split up, Yukiko reached the bus stop. Viljam was actually waiting there. The Finnish boy narrowly missed the bus that would've taken him to Amagi Inn, so he had to wait for the next one.

"Nousku-kun," Yukiko called out, as she quickly walked towards the boy.

"I thought you might get here before the next bus," Viljam said with a faint smile.

"Umm. Nousku-kun, did Chie do something to you yesterday," Yukiko asked the Finnish boy. Yukiko trusts that Chie told the truth, but she still wanted to hear Viljam's side.

"I don't want to talk about it," Viljam said, while turning his head away, clearly depressed at the topic. Yukiko wanted to know more, but this felt like a topic she shouldn't push.

"Okay, but whatever happened, please don't hate Chie for it," Yukiko said dropping the topic, but Viljam's head snapped back towards Yukiko.

"Me? Chie's the one with a reason to hate me now," Viljam said, confusing Yukiko. Chie said Viljam hates her, but Viljam says that Chie hates him? This just became complicated.

"Why would Chie hate you? Also when did you get comfortable addressing her without a suffix," Yukiko asked. The question was innocent, but the last part could almost be taken as teasing. Viljam however wasn't phased by the second question.

"I was doing so well, and now I finally slip," Viljam whined a little. Yukiko was a little surprised at the answer, but then she remembered where Viljam was from. Of course there was a possibility that he would slip. "To answer the first question...I...may have said something that Chie-san might have taken as offensive," Viljam said with slight difficulty. Now Yukiko was even more curious, but as much as she wanted to ask, she saw that it was difficult for Viljam to say this much, so she decided to leave it at that. Though it doesn't mean she won't ask something else.

"Have you tried apologizing," Yukiko asked the Finnish boy who visibly deflated.

"It won't help," Viljam said simply. Out of all the answers Yukiko expected this wasn't one of them.

"Why not? Apologizing means you're sorry," Yukiko asked not understanding why it wouldn't help.

"Because Chie-san can't forgive someone like me," Viljam said, causing Yukiko to frown.

The red clad girl forced Viljam to look her in the eyes as she fixed him with a stern look. "Nousku-kun, we've been over this. No matter what flaws you might have, you can't make us hate you," Yukiko said with a stern tone, which softened as she spoke the latter sentence.

Viljam turned his gaze towards the ground. "...I'm sorry. I don't think I'll ever get rid of my inferiority complex," Viljam said sadly. "I'll try apologizing to Chie-san tomorrow and hope for the best," Viljam said, though his tone indicated that he had no hope. Yukiko still smiled and patted the boys head, much to his chagrin. Just then, the bus came and the two got on.

 **(Yasogami High. May 27th. Lunch hour)**

Viljam wanted to apologize to Chie about his slip that evening, but he didn't find a good moment. In other words he was too scared to even try. Now he was sitting on the roof eating his boxed lunch, though with his appetite gone he was practically forcing himself. After all, if he didn't eat he won't make it until the end of the day.

"Mihin se yksi nyt jäi," Viljam wondered aloud. When lunch hour started, Yu had asked Viljam if he wanted to eat lunch together on the roof. Few minutes later after they arrived to the roof, Yu said he needed to go to toilet and left. The silverhaired boy even left his lunch box behind. Soon enough Viljam heard the door to the roof opening. "What took you so long," Viljam asked as he turned towards whoever came to the roof. Only it wasn't Yu, but Chie who was standing there.

Chie was surprised to see Viljam. The green clad girl was called to the roof by Yukiko, so they could discuss more about how she could talk with Viljam. "Why are you here," Chie asked surprised.

"Yu-san invited me here," Viljam answered simply. Now was a perfect chance for him to talk, but the Finnish boy couldn't bring himself to do it. He was too afraid that every word he said would make Chie angry.

"Yukiko, we need to change location," Chie said to the red clad girl who came with her. Except that Yukiko had retreated back inside and closed the door behind. Chie rushed to the door, only to realize that it was locked when she tried to open it. "Yukiko, let me in," Chie cried as she tried yanking the door to no avail. However from behind the door, it was Yu who answered.

"Sorry, Satonaka-san, but the door will stay locked until you and Nousku have made peace," The silver haired boy's voice came from behind the door. Chie was shocked to hear Yu's voice. After Yukiko and Viljam had returned to the Inn, Yukiko had called Yu to discuss on how to get those two to talk. This was the result.

"I'm sorry Chie, but I was afraid you would run away at the crucial moment," Yukiko apologized from behind the door. Now Chie was even more shocked.

"You two planned this," Chie yelled at the door, causing Yukiko to flinch. Not that the green clad girl could see it.

"Amagi-san told me that you wanted to apologize to Nousku, so now's your chance," Yu said with his usual calmness. Either he was confident that Chie would thank them later, or he didn't think the girl could kick the door down, which she was so tempted to do.

"This isn't what you said, Yukiko," Chie said, referring to the fact that the green clad girl herself was supposed to prevent Viljam from leaving the roof. "I'm not even sure if he wants to forgive me," Chie mumbled sadly.

"Me? Forgive you?"

Chie jumped and turned around to see, that Viljam had moved closer to see what was going on. "I'm the one who needs to say sorry," The Finnish boy said, before Chie could say anything.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Chie said while waving her arms in front of her. "What are _you_ , sorry for," Chie asked, not understanding why Viljam should apologize. Viljam opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Then he just looked down.

Truthfully, Viljam didn't know anymore what he was supposed to apologize for. He knew he said something he probably shouldn't have, but now that he thought of it, it's not something to get angry over. At least Chie didn't seem to be angry about it. "Because I dared to have a thought about...," Viljam finally said, unable to finish the sentence. He then turned his head away while feeling his stomach twisting in nervousness.

Chie wasn't sure how to take Viljam's silence. Not to mention, the last sentence made the green clad girl think of too many things it could implicate. Chie desperately thought what she should do, how should she think of it. " _Don't think too much Chie-chan._ " Kasai's words echoed in the girls head. " _If you do, you might make things more awkward than they actually are_ _._ ". With that Chie answered with surprising confidence, "I'm the one who thought you were asking me on a date.". With that Viljam once again was able turn his head towards Chie. "I was being stupid, so you weren't at fault at all," Chie said while laughing nervously.

With that Viljam covered his mouth and turned away from Chie. The green clad girl thought she may have said something bad again until she noticed the way Viljam's body was shaking. Then Chie caught the sound the boy was trying to suppress. "You're laughing at me," Chie asked in shocked annoyance.

"Sorry.*kihhihih* But I just feel *ehheh* dumb," Viljam said between laughs, confusing Chie. How did feeling dumb make someone laugh?

The confusion was soon replaced by annoyance. "Stop laughing, before I kick your ass," Chie shouted, causing Viljam to instantly stop.

"I'm sorry," Viljam said as he turned to face Chie with a guilty look. "It's just, when I said we should do that again, I didn't even think it could be taken as 'asking for a date'," Viljam explained in embarrassment.

Chie just sighed at the admission, since she actually took it that way. "So, are we cool now," Chie asked, wanting this thing to be over with.

"Yes we are," Viljam said smiling. With that the two had made peace. "Soooo. Do you think they would let us out of here now," Viljam wondered aloud, reminding Chie of a certain something she overlooked. Yu and Yukiko probably heard them, which means they now knew what caused their little misunderstanding. This made Chie blush in embarrassment. Before Viljam noticed this, the door opened, revealing the two masterminds.

"Well done you two," Yu congratulated Chie and Viljam.

"You inviting me to the roof was just a ruse to lock me and Chie out here," Viljam accused Yu.

"It was my idea," Yukiko said like she was ashamed. Viljam was very surprised, since he thought Yukiko wasn't capable of mischief. "So, Chie," Yukiko said, turning to her best friend. "You thought he was asking you on a date," the red clad girl said, confirming Chie's fears. Viljam froze as he realized that the two masterminds heard them. Chie didn't want to answer so she ran past the two and down the stairs. "Chie! Wait," Yukiko called after the green clad girl before running after her. Leaving Viljam with Yu.

"Now then," Yu said as he went to pick his lunch box that he left here. Viljam too returned to his unfinished lunch. "So, Satonaka-san thought you asked her on a date," Yu asked Viljam.

"Yes," Viljam said with a sigh. No use hiding it.

"How would you feel if it actually was a date," Yu asked after swallowing another piece of his lunch. Viljam nearly choked on his food at the question.

"Where did that come from," Viljam asked in clear discomfort.

"Just wondering," Yu replied easily. Viljam couldn't understand how the silver hairedboy was able to ask something like that just because. "That, and Yosuke once asked me if Satonaka-san or Amagi-san were my type. I was wondering what you thought," Yu said, piquing Viljam's interest.

"What did you answer," Viljam asked in curiosity.

"I said that they were both pretty, but neither are really my type," Yu said with a shrug. For some reason, Viljam wasn't surprised at the answer. "So what would you answer," Yu asked the Finnish boy. Viljam froze at the question. He wasn't sure if he wanted to answer. Yukiko was pretty, but she just wasn't his type. Chie on the other hand... Well... Viljam wasn't sure about her. Sure she was pretty in her own way, but the idea of dating her was something the Finnish had no idea how to feel about. Even the comment he made the day before yesterday came out of nowhere as far as he knew. "This will only be between us guys," Yu reassured the Finnish, guessing why Viljam clammed up.

With that Viljam took a deep breath. "Yukiko-san isn't my type, but I'm not too sure about Chie-san either," Viljam answered unsurely. While not a lie, there was a certain type of woman Viljam was drawn towards and Chie falls under that category, but that was something he was too embarrassed to admit. After that, the two ate in silence and Yu felt that he was starting to understand Viljam.

 **(With Chie and Yukiko)**

After Yukiko caught up with Chie, the two had sat down on the stairs between first and second floor to eat their lunches.

"Chie I'm sorry," Yukiko apologized for the umpteenth time. As much as Chie was annoyed that Yukiko had eavesdropped on her and Viljam, she just couldn't muster any anger. Unfortunately, Yukiko had taken Chie's silent treatment as a sign of anger.

"Yukiko, it's fine. I'm not angry," Chie said with a sigh.

"But I listened in on your confession," Yukiko said, causing Chie to choke on her food.

"YUKIKO," Chie cried, earning weird looks from passerbys. After the possible eavesdroppers left, Chie was able to continue. "It wasn't a confession, I just admitted that I got his words wrong," Chie explained frantically, earning a confused look from Yukiko.

"Wasn't that what you confessed," Yukiko asked, not understanding what Chie was defensive about. Chie was momentarily confused by the question until she realized that Yukiko didn't mean "love" confession.

"Anyway, I'm surprised you were able to pull something like that," Chie quickly changed the subject.

"Narukami-kun helped a lot," Yukiko said humbly. Truthfully all Yu really did was iron out the flaws in Yukiko's initial plan, but Yukiko still didn't feel like she did all that much. The two ate in silence for a moment until Yukiko decided to ask something she had been wondering.

"Chie, do you like Nousku-kun," Yukiko asked Chie, who froze mid bite. After few seconds Chie recovered and her shoulders visibly slumped.

"Not you too," Chie complained. Yosuke's occasional teasing was bad enough, but now her best friend too. "Look there's nothing going on," Chie said with finality. Unfortunately, Yukiko didn't take the hint.

"I didn't say there was. I just asked if you like him at all," Yukiko said, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Look I don't like him," Chie said in an attempt to end this conversation, but unfortunately her plan had a flaw.

"Why not?" And that was Yukiko wanting to know why Chie wouldn't like Viljam. "Is there something wrong with him," Yukiko asked, with an inquisitive look.

To that question Chie had a list of answers, but was any of them a reason to not like Viljam? Not really, because while Viljam doesn't act like a guy "should", that doesn't make him unlikeable. "URGH. Fine, I lied. He's...not unpleasant," Chie said honestly. The green clad girl wouldn't use the word 'like' to describe how she felt about Viljam, but he was good enough to be around with.

"It's not nice to lie Chie," Yukiko scolded Chie about lying, then she smiled again. "But it's nice to know that you don't hate him," the red clad girl added while patting Chie's head. Chie wasn't amused.

"Hey, I'm not a little kid," Chie said in annoyance, earning a questioning look from Yukiko.

"But Nousku-kun does this all the time," Yukiko retorted with little confidence. If Chie ever thought Viljam was bad influence on Yukiko, now it was confirmed. "He said he does this all the time to his little sister," Yukiko added. Chie felt some offence to that since she was a little shorter than Yukiko, despite...

"Yukiko, I'm older than you," Chie said in annoyance, causing Yukiko to look down in embarrassment. Although the difference in their age was just a few months, Chie still felt like she needed to remind Yukiko of that.

"Sorry," Yukiko apologized.

The green clad girl decided to pay Yukiko back by patting the red clad girl's head. "Now were even," Chie said with a grin, which made Yukiko smile. "Speaking of age how do we know Nousku-kun isn't younger than we are," Chie then wondered. If the Finnish boy had the nerve to treat Yukiko like he does his little sister, then he must think that he's older.

Yukiko of course had the answer. "He told me he was born on April fool's day," Yukiko said, confusing Chie.

"What's that," Chie asked. The next few minutes was spent with Yukiko explaining the concept of April fool's day. Viljam himself was a little surprised that the concept didn't exist in Japan. Then again, April Fool's is a western thing.

"...In Nousku-kun's own words, his very existence is the ultimate joke," Yukiko said with a giggle, which was shared by Chie. The girls then noticed students moving back and forth on the stairs. The classes must be starting again soon. The two closed their now empty lunch boxes and moved quickly to the class.

 **(Amagi Inn. 27th. Evening.)**

The Amagi Inn wasn't busy today, that's why Yukiko had time to spend with Yu after school. Yukiko was currently in the middle of cooking. The kitchen of the Inn wasn't currently in use by the staff, so she wasn't in anyone's way. Why was Yukiko cooking right now? Because she wanted to get some practice before leaving the Inn. Yukiko had decided to leave Amagi Inn after graduating, so she thought she needs to be sure to know she can cook. After all eating out all the time isn't healthy. The only one who knows about this is Yu. Actually earlier in the day Yukiko had gone to grocery shopping with Yu. Which brings us to the second reason Yukiko is cooking, Yu had promised to taste test her cooking.

"I'm sure Narukami-kun will like this," Yukiko thought aloud as she added in some vegetables for the concoction that was boiling on the stove.

"What are you cooking for him?" Was the question that made nearly jump out of her skin. Viljam was standing in front of the doorway dressed in his "home clothes" as he calls them. Which consisted of black slacks and a loose t-shirt. The boy was in the middle of laughing at Yukiko's reaction. "When did I become so hard to detect," Viljam asked while laughing.

"Not funny, Nousku-kun," Yukiko said annoyed. Viljam quickly apologized before approaching the stove.

"Sorry, but what made you try to win Yu-san's heart with your cooking," Viljam asked the girl, who was currently dressed in her kimono. While the Inn didn't need Yukiko's help today, she was still dressed appropriately in case she was needed. The girl in question blushed at the question.

"No! It's nothing like that," Yukiko said embarrassed, unfortunately this only made Viljam smile evilly.

"Then what is it like," Viljam asked teasingly.

" _Why can't Nousku-kun always be reserved,_ " Yukiko thought desperately. A little something Yukiko noticed about Viljam, the moment it looks like there aren't people who the Finnish boy regards as "scary". He becomes what many people would regard as a pain in the ass. Nothing too serious, he just becomes more mischievous and more willing to speak his mind. "I just want to thank him for helpping me today," Yukiko said hoping Viljam buys it.

Judging by Viljam adopting his basic expression, he did. "You could've just said so instead," Viljam said, though he wasn't teasing anymore. Now Yukiko felt relieved. "Or did you bribe him with your cooking," Viljam said with a snicker.

"Don't say it like that," Yukiko said in a stern tone. The kimono clad girl decided to check her cooking, before Viljam would say anything else. "Hmm. I think it's done," Yukiko said as she went to pick up the lunch box she had prepared. As soon as she did, she heard coughing behind her. Yukiko turned around to see Viljam not far from the pot coughing. "Nousku-kun, are you okay," the kimono clad girl asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Viljam answered, though his face said otherwise. "It's rare, but sometimes I start coughing for no reason," Viljam said, making Yukiko a little worried, since she has heard how Viljam can cough so badly that he can taste blood in his throat.

"Are you sure you're alright," Yukiko asked, not wanting to take chances. Viljam gave a reassuring smile.

"Yes I am. Anyway, shouldn't you put the food in the box now," Viljam said, directing Yukiko's attention to the food she made. Yukiko quickly got to it, while Viljam looked on with a strange look on his face. "Yrittääkö hän myrkyttää Yun," Viljam mumbled, but Yukiko was still able to hear him.

"What," Yukiko asked, making Viljam jump a little, which miraculously went unnoticed by Yukiko.

"I said, I hope Yu likes it," Viljam said in a nervous tone, that Yukiko missed.

"Thank you," Yukiko said happily. With that Viljam slowly walked away.

Once exiting kitchens, Viljam had a moral dilemma. Did he do the right thing? Viljam didn't like lying, but how was he supposed to tell Yukiko that her cooking made him gag from just sniffing it. "En voi muuta kuin rukoilla Yun selviytymistä," Viljam said as he walked towards his room.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **Well. Chie and Viljam didn't kiss, but they did make up, Viljam got a sniff of Yukiko's infamous cooking and I managed to add a ship tease. Good work from me, if I do say so myself. Please don't flame me if I'm wrong.**

 **Translations:**

Yrittääkö hän myrkyttää Yun= **Is she trying to poison Yu**

En voi muuta kuin rukoilla Yun selviytymistä= **I can't do anything but pray for Yu's survival**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 **Author's notes:**

 **So sorry if I took so long. I had problems with writing this. I started to worry if I'm any good. I think that in terms of writing quality, this is my best chapter by far. At least that's how I feel.**

 **Well. I may take a little longer to write the next chapter, but I won't give up. Especially now that the school campout portion is right around the corner. Seriously, I have the whole thing planned out. But enough of that, please enjoy.**

 **Translations will be at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Samegawa Flood Plain. May 28th. After School)**

Yukiko had asked Yu to accompany her to Samegawa floodplain to try her boxed lunch.

"I think it came out well, so I packed it up. Please try it," Yukiko told Yu with slight embarrassment.

Truthfully, Yu wasn't sure about the contents of the box. It looks normal, but there was a pugent smell coming from it. "Did you taste it," Yu asked with his usual calmness, but he was nervous on the inside.

"Ohh no. I wanted you to try it first," Yukiko said smiling, which made Yu even more worried.

Yu mustered all the courage he could and then took a bite out of an omelette looking thing. To Yu's horror, there was something too hard to bite on the inside and whatever it was, it felt both raw and burnt. Yu was able to swallow the disgusting thing, even though his body will probably reject it.

"...You're not about to tell me it was delicious, are you," Yukiko said sadly.

Yu hesitated only for an instant, before giving a perfect reply."There's always next time," Yu encouraged the red clad girl. Although Yu will probably never trust Yukiko's cooking again.

"Thank you," Yukiko said in relief.

"Hey big bro, what are you doing," called the voice of Nanako, who happened to walk by.

Yukiko greeted the little girl with a warm smile. "Ah Nanako-chan..Well I was just having your big bro try my boxed lunch.

"Ooh, I want some," Nanako said happily.

"No," Yu said harsher than he meant, causing Nanako to look sad. "I'm sorry Nanako. It's just that...," Yu apologized, but was unable to finish his explanation, because he was afraid of hurting Yukiko's feelings.

A dark cloud of depression hung over Yukiko."It's not good," Yukiko finished for Yu, while hanging her head.

Nanako brightened up. "Oh. If you make a good one, will you let me try some," Nanako asked hopefully.

Yukiko lifted her head at the question. "S-sure if you want," Yukiko said, clearly cheered up.

"Yay, I'm rooting for you," Nanako said happily, which made Yukiko and Yu smile.

"Thank you, I'll do my best," Yukiko said with new determination.

"I'm going to Mai-chan's house now, bye," Nanako informed the two before walking away. Then she stopped and walked back to the two. "Big bro, are they playing hide and seek," Nanako asked, confusing Yu and Yukiko.

"Who's 'them'," Yu asked in suspicion. In response, Nanako pointed towards a tree a not too far away from them. Yu caught a glimpse of Chie and Viljam spying on them. The two peepers realized they'd been discovered and ran away.

"What were they doing here," Yukiko asked in outrage. She too caught a glimpse of the two and was embarrassed that her failure was witnessed by two more people.

"Apparently spying on us, but how long have they been there," Yu responded, with just a hint of annoyance.

Nanako caught onto the mood the two had. "Did I do something bad," Nanako asked unsurely. Yu responded by putting the failed boxed lunch away and giving Nanako a reassuring hug.

"No, you did the right thing," Yu said and released the hug. "I think Mai-chan is waiting for you now," Yu then said, causing Nanako to remember what she was supposed to be doing. Nanako bid farewell, before going to her friend's house.

As soon as Nanako left Yukiko remembered something. "Nousku-kun must've followed us," Yukiko said giving Yu a question mark.

"Did you tell him you would have me try your cooking," Yu asked. It wouldn't be strange for someone who lived under the same roof to figure out what Yukiko was planning.

"Yes, he actually saw me cooking and even wished me luck. Though I still wonder why he coughed all of a sudden," Yukiko explained to Yu, who started to connect the dots. Viljam _knew_ Yukiko's cooking was no good and came to witness the result with his own eyes. Yu was going to have a little talk with the Finnish boy later. That left the question though, why was Chie with him?

 **(Souzai Daigaku. May 28th. Roughly same time)**

"Remind me again, how you got me into this," Chie asked Viljam, before munching on a steak skewer. After the two had escaped the immediate vicinity, Viljam decided to buy some steak skewers. Chie decided to have VIljam buy her some too, which the Finnish boy did.

"You were the one who was interested in what Yu-san and Yukiko-san were doing," Viljam responded while using hamster technique, which was why his cheeks looked bigger right now.

Chie frowned at Viljam remembering that. After school, Viljam saw Yukiko leaving with Yu and decided to follow them to make sure Yu would survive Yukiko's cooking. Chie noticed what Viljam was doing and tagged along to see why Yu and Yukiko were together. Then Nanako ratted them out and they ran away.

"But why were you interested in what they were doing," Chie asked in suspicion. The green clad girl, hadn't asked why Viljam was following the two.

"Because I wanted to make sure, Yu-san wouldn't die," Viljam answered easily before swallowing what he had stored in his cheeks.

Chie was shocked at Viljam's answer. "Yukiko wouldn't kill Narukami-kun," Chie shouted in anger, causing Viljam to cower in fear.

"I didn't say that," Viljam cried in terror.

"Oh really? Because it sure sounded like it," Chie retorted while getting up from the bench she was sitting on and moving towards Viljam.

"I was just afraid her food might kill him," Viljam said causing Chie to halt her advance. Now that Chie thought of it. Yukiko did hand him a boxed lunch, though she couldn't clearly see the silverhaired boy's reaction to the stuff.

"And how would you know that Yukiko's cooking could kill Narukami-kun," Chie asked still suspicious. Actually now that she thought of it, why did he know about Yukiko cooking for Yu.

"Because I smelled it, when she wasn't looking. It was horrible," Viljam said while shuddering at the memory.

"If it was horrible, why didn't you tell Yukiko," Chie kept up her interrogation.

"Yukiko-san put a lot of effort into it, I couldn't just tell her it was inedible," Viljam said ashamed. Now that he thought of it, he could've called Yu and warn him of it. This realization made Viljam feel guilty.

With Viljam's reasoning, Chie wasn't sure if she should punish him for not telling Yukiko, or praise him for not hurting her feelings. "I guess, I can see why you wouldn't," Chie said with a sigh. "Anyway, do you think those two are dating now," Chie asked Viljam, who chuckled at the question.

"We're sitting here, eating steak skewers together. Does that mean we're dating," Viljam countered in amusement. Unfortunately Chie took that a little too seriously.

"Whuh? I..uhhh...no...I m-mean...," Chie stuttered, causing Viljam to laugh.

"A simple 'no' would've been enough," Viljam said in amusement, which made Chie frown. To Viljam it looked like a pout, but he kept that to himself. "Seriously, when someone even remotely mentions dating, you get flustered," the Finnish boy said a little more seriously.

"Hey! I'm not that bad," Chie said annoyed. "Besides, you're easily scared," Chie retorted, causing Viljam to slump.

"I'm sorry," Viljam apologized making Chie sweatdrop.

"...Really," Chie asked in disbelief. Chie was only trying to stop Viljam's teasing, not make him depressed. "Look, it's just that I've never dated anyone, so I don't know how I should react," Chie said, trying to get the boy to think of something else.

It seemed to work. "I haven't dated anyone either," Viljam replied, surprising Chie.

"But I thought your sisters taught you how to date," Chie said in confusion.

Viljam had a baffled look on his face. "Where did you get that idea," the Finnish boy asked in amazement. "Seriously, all I really know about talking to girls is when to speak my mind and when to shut up," The Finnish boy explained.

"Oh really," Chie said in amusement. "And yet you can't keep certain things to yourself," Chie couldn't help but tease.

"...Shutting up now," Viljam said in embarrassment, causing Chie to giggle.

The two talked for a while longer, before going back to their homes. Of course, Viljam received a stern talk from Yukiko when she saw him again.

 **(Yasogami High. June 6th. After School)**

The next few days were relatively peaceful for the gang. King Moron seems to give Viljam just a little more slack, but he still points out the poor boy's learning disorder. During their free time, Chie had still kept training Viljam occasionally, Yukiko helped around the Inn whenever needed with Viljam occasionally lending a hand too, Yosuke and Yu had found some time to hang out with each other and Viljam.

Today however the five were sitting on the roof, waiting for a certain someone to appear. Soon enough, Kanji Tatsumi arrived to the roof.

"H-hi there," Kanji said nervously.

Chie barely contained her laughter. "Where'd the manners come from," Chie asked, clearly amused.

"Well, um... I didn't know you guys were my senpai," Kanji replied while scratching his head. At this everyone laughed. The thought of Kanji being this polite to them just because they were his senpai was pretty funny to them. Especially when Viljam heard that the legendary first year student who crushed a biker gang back in middle school was Kanji himself. "Uhh...Thanks a bunch," Kanji then thanked the gang for the save. "Though I dont really remember what happened," the punk added.

Yukiko glanced at Yu, who nodded. "There are some things we'd like you to tell us," Yukiko opened the talks.

Chie decided to start," First off, who was that boy you met with?".

Kanji flinched at the question. "I-I don't know much about him," Kanji stuttered. "I mean I've only met him twice," he added.

Chie wasn't convinced. " Yeah, but you walked home from school with him. What did you guys talk about," Chie asked, hoping for more information.

Kanji took a moment to answer. "Uh, well... He just asked stuff like...If anything different happened lately," the punk said. "I don't know where my head was at... When I came to my senses, I blurted out that I wanted to see him again," Kanji said, with just a slight blush on his cheeks.

"To a guy," Chie half stated half asked. Viljam also tilted his head in curiosity. Kanji just nodded.

"I, uh... I don't really get it myself," Kanji said. "Girls are so loud and obnoxious, so, y'know I really don't like dealing with 'em," Kanji explained, causing the two girls to frown a little. "Guys are more laid back," the punk added, to Viljam's confusion. " S-so I started thinking... What if I'm the type who never gets interested in girls," Kanji said with difficulty and red cheeks. "And I couldn't accept that," the punk finished, in a tone that said he was ashamed.

"Well, I can understand the part about being more relaxed around guys," Yosuke said.

"I don't," Viljam piped up surprising everyone. "Girls are less likely to get violent," Viljam explained. Yosuke snorted as he remembered a certain Kung Fu girl.

"What are you snickering about," Chie asked in a warning tone. Yosuke wanted to respond to that, but Yu signaled him not to.

Yu decided to return the conversation back on track. " Anyway, Kanji. Don't you like girls," Yu asked Kanji.

"I'm fine now," Kanji said with confidence. "I mean, it was all in my head, when y'get down to it. I was the one shutting out that stuff," Kanji explained, giving the gang question marks. "So, uhh.. Our family's run a textile shop for generations...Oh yeah, you already knew that," Kanji began to explain. "My parents are kinda weird... They say stuff like 'Dyes are one with the universe' and 'cloth is alive'," Kanji said, making everyone smile at the phrases. "That's the kinda house I grew up in. So I've been interested in sewing and stuff since I was a kid," Kanji said. With that explanation, it made sense that Kanji would like sewing. "But the second I say stuff like that, people look at me funny...," Kanji said with just a hint of resentment. Everyone felt a little sympathy at that. Being called weird for something you like isn't pleasant. "Shit, what's with me today? I'm going on and on about myself," Kanji then said while scratching his head nervously. "Forget all that. Man I must look really lame right," Kanji asked.

"Yes you do," Yu said good naturedly, though Viljam still frowned for some reason.

"*Haha* For serious," Kanji laughed at the remark. "I've never talked about any of this stuff before." Kanji then said. "Guess I never really had anyone to tell it to," the surprisingly tame punk continued. Kanji then looked down for a moment before saying his next sentence, "Guess I wasn't really afraid of girls. I was just scared of people in general. But all that's behind me."

Chie looked impressed. "Wow. I'm surprised...You're a good kid," Chie said in wonder.

"D-don't call me a good kid," Kanji rebutted in embarrassment.

Yosuke chuckled at the response. "No need to get embarrassed. You're a big guy, you can take it," Yosuke joked, making Kanji frown a little. Then the Junes boy took a serious expression. "Hey, is there anything you remember after you ran into us the second time," Yosuke asked Kanji. "You know, after you chased us away and said you were gonna take us down," The headphone wearing boy added.

"Huh? Oh I went home," Kanji said simply. "I was gonna sleep it off in my room," The punk continued. Then he remembered something. "Wait, I think someone came," Kanji said thinking hard, while everyone else got exclamation marks.

Yosuke was the first to say what everyone was thinking. "To your house!? Who was it," Yosuke exclaimed, hoping that Kanji would remember.

"Uh. It was just a feeling I had...I dunno if anyone actually came," Kanji said, disappointing Yosuke. "Other than that...I remember some dark entrance thing," Kanji said, causing Yukiko to think. "When I woke up I was laid out on the floor of that weird sauna place," the punk finished.

"A dark entrance," Yukiko wondered aloud. " Could it have been a TV," the red clad girl asked.

Kanji looked thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, maybe so," Kanji said, though he didn't understand what a TV had to do with this. "Why do you ask," Kanji voiced his wonderings.

Yukiko quickly shook her head. "No reason. I was just wondering," Yukiko said.

"Did the police ask you anything," Yosuke then asked.

"Yeah. I told them what I just told to you guys and they looked at me like I was crazy," Kanji said. This didn't surprise anyone. Honestly, if the gang hadn't seen themselves, they wouldn't believe it either. "So, like... Are you guys playing detective or something," Kanji then asked.

"Well...Something like that," Chie said, unsure if they should tell Kanji more.

"Anything I can do to help," Kanji then asked, surprising everyone. "If there's some bastard, who put me through this, I ain't gonna rest until I make them pay," Kanji said with determination. Everyone could sympathize with that reason.

Yu smield at Kanji's offer. "You're more than welcome to join us," Yu said.

"Thank you, Sir," Kanji exclaimed, causing Viljam to cover his mouth in order to suppress his laughter. "I'll put my life on the line for you guys," Kanji added enthusiastically, stopping Viljam's laughter.

"You don't have to go that far," Viljam said seriously, causing everyone else to laugh. "What," the Finnish boy asked, not understanding what was funny. The laughter didn't cease, which was making Viljam extremely uncomfortable. "Would someone please, tell me what's so funny," the boy cried.

"It's okay, Nousku. You don't have to understand," Yu said comfortingly. Viljam didn't like the sound of it, but he accepted it anyway.

"Well if we're gonna welcome a new member...," Yosuke said changing the subjext.

"Should we take him to our special headquarters," Yukiko finished for Yosuke.

"We're still calling it that," Chie asked, making Viljam frown.

"Chie-san, please don't be a killjoy," Viljam said, causing everyone but Chie laugh, while Kanji was just standing on the side. "Oh and while I still remember...," Viljam said getting up and walking in front of Kanji and putting both hands on the punks shoulders. "Kanji-san, I don't know how to say this, but...," Viljam said, clearly uncomfortable about what he was about to say. Kanji begun to blush at the possibility of what Viljam was going to say. Yosuke and Yu were a little worried about what was about to happen. Viljam finally took a deep breath. "Do I look like a girl," Viljam asked with a pained expression, causing Yu and Yosuke to trip at nothing. Yukiko's eyes widened and Chie face-palmed, as she was the only one privy to what was going on in the Finnish boy's head.

"Hell no," Kanji replied quickly, earning a sudden hug from Viljam, making the blonde delinquent blush.

"Thank you so much," Viljam said with a sigh of relief, before releasing the hug. Kanji was a little taken back at what just happened. Everyone else, except Chie, thought that the Finnish boy had gone crazy.

"That stuff still bothered you," Chie asked in disbelief earning exclamation marks from everyone else.

"You know what's going on," Yosuke, who had gotten up by now, asked in slight shock.

"I'll explain on the way," Viljam said, though he wasn't looking forward to it.

 **(Junes. June 6th. Sometime Later)**

True to his words, Viljam explained how Kanji's shadow called him a girl, which made the boy remember the time he questioned, if he was a girl in a guy's skin. Yosuke laughed at the whole thing, because Viljam hasn't done anything that could classify as girly. Yu congratulated Viljam, for dealing with it on his own. Kanji was impressed at how the Finnish was able to overcome that kind of crisis alone. Yukiko didn't seem to have anything to say.

Now, the gang was gathered at Junes food court. Each of them had drinks, though Viljam had a larger one than the others did. Kanji had also bought a grilled steak. And a bowl of some dish Viljam didn't recognize.

"Man you eat alot," Yosuke commented. "Were you listening to what we were saying," the Junes boy then asked. As Kanji was eating they took the time to explain to Kanji what was going on.

Kanji looked up from his food. "Huh? Shurr, I waf lifnin'," Kanji said with his mouth full.

"Maybe Nousku-kun should teach his legendary 'hamster technique'," Chie said with a giggle, which made Viljam shrink away in his seat, while others had question marks.

"That was private," was the only response that came out of the Finnish boy.

Kanji quickly swallowed, before questioning, " What's this 'hamster technique' stuff.".

"I don't want to talk about it," Viljam said quickly, while giving a pointed stare at Chie. Viljam didn't mind talking about his 'manliness' crisis, but he was embarrassed about the technique he has used since he was little.

Yosuke thankfully, was more interested in whether Kanji was listening. "Kanji, I'll ask again. Were you listening to us," Yosuke asked, earning Kanji's attention.

"Huh? Oh yeah. So someone's killing people with a TV?...What, is he beating them to death," Kanji asks.

Yosuke was annoyed "No, they weren't beaten to death with a TV! Were you listening at all," Yosuke exclaimed in annoyance.

Chie giggled at the exchange. " Don't worry, he'll understand when he sees the place with his own eyes," Chie said with her usual cheerfulness. The green clad girl then turned serious. "But the way it happened was just like with Yukiko and Nousku-kun," Chie pointed out. "The killer kidnapped him first, then threw him inside the TV," Chie added.

"Yeah, it's scary," Yukiko said with worry.

The gang hears two students talking not too far from them. "That show's been pretty crazy lately," one of them said.

"Yeah. I keep wondering who comes next," said the other.

"I knew that the first year student,who was in the biker gang would be on next," the first one said.

Kanji got up from his seat. "Who the hell'd you think was next," Kanji said while giving the two students a glare. The two students were startled, by the punk being here. "His name is Kanji Tatsumi. And he wasn't in a biker gang. He's the one who beat the shit out of those leathered-up pansies," Kanji added. Then Kanji slammed his fist against his palm. "So who are you dipshits," Kanji shouted, causing the two students to run away in fear. "Tch. Boring," Kanji said, before returning to his seat.

"They had some nerve," Viljam commented about the two students.

Chie agreed. "Yeah. I mean sure, they have no idea that it's related to the murders, but how can they talk about their schoolmate like that," Chie said with a frown.

"They're like onlookers of a car crash," Yosuke stated. "As long as it's not happening to them, they're dying to see," the headphone wearing boy explained.

"Guys. Do we have any idea who's going to be targeted anymore," Viljam decided to ask. Everyone shook their head at that.

"Our assumption was that the victims were all female, but Kanji's kidnapping has disproved that once and for all," Yu said.

"As if I wasn't proof enough," Viljam huffed in annoyance.

Yukiko gave Viljam a disapproving look. "We were assuming you weren't kidnapped because you happened to be there, rememeber," Yukiko pointed out, which made Viljam look apologetic.

"What was the other thing we thought they had in common," Chie then asked.

Yu decided to answer that "People involved with Mayumi Yamano, but I don't think that holds up anymore," Yu informed.

"Agreed," Viljam said. "I mean Yukiko-san and Kanji-san aside, I've never even heard about her before the first murder," the Finnish boy said.

"In fact," Yosuke piped up. "Amagi and Kanji weren't dealing with Yamano-san either. It was their mothers who did," Yosuke pointed out with a sigh.

"You guys saying you don't have any clues," Kanji asked, earning everyone's attention. "Well listen up, 'cause I got something big," Kanji said smugly, before pulling out a paper from his pocket.

"What's that," Yosuke asked what everyone was thinking.

Kanji was thrilled to answer. "Okay, when I made my comeback at school today, there was this annoying brat snooping around on Senpais' and my disappearance," Kanji explained in excitement. "So I went and took this from him. I dunno what the hell this all is though," Kanji added causing Chie and Viljam to sweat-drop.

"And you took it anyway," Chie questioned in disbelief.

Yu took the paper from Kanji and read it. After a moment he noticed something interesting. "It says, List of TV programs. Mayumi Yamano, April 11th. Saki Konishi, April 13th," Yu listed the information earning question marks from others.

"What's with the dates," Viljam was the first to ask.

A lightbulb went off in Chie's head. "Oh they found the first body on the day school started, so that would have been the 12th," Chie informed everyone. "The 11th is the day before that," the green clad girl added with less enthusiasm, since it didn't seem important info.

Yosuke then looked a little downcast. " I know I can't forget the day Saki-senpai's body was found...That was the 15th," Yosuke said with a sigh.

"That doesn't answer, what the dates are," Viljam said with a slight frown. "I mean, why mark the dates, before the victims were kidnapped/killed," the Finnish boy added, causing Yu to think.

"Wasn't Konishi-senpai interviewed on April 13th," Yu then asked causing everyone to gain exclamation marks.

"Oh that's right," Chie exclaimed. "She was interviewed, because she found the first body," the green clad girl said.

"Then this date, Mayumi Yamano, April 11th. Did she appear on TV that day too," Yukiko wondered aloud.

"Oh, she was on! That was when the affair hit the news," Chie exclaimed. Viljam himself didn't see it, because he had just moved into the town that day.

Then Yosuke remembered something. " Hey Amagi, didn't you get interviewed too," the Junes boy asked. "When did it air," Yosuke added.

Yukiko then tried to remember. Then she suddenly turned towards Yu. "Oh, It was the day after I met you at the embankment. I had my kimono on. Do you remember," Yukiko asked Yu, surprising Viljam a little. Then the Finnish boy remembered, that Yukiko had to go shopping that day, so maybe she met Yu on her way.

"Yes I remember," Yu said. He still remembers how Yukiko looked a little depressed, but that was then. "That would make the airing date April 15th," Yu said, to which Yukiko nodded.

"And right after that I was kidnapped," Yukiko said, causing Viljam to flinch as he remembered something.

"You don't think...," Viljam said letting the sentence hang.

Yosuke caught onto Viljam's train of thought and turned his attention to Kanji. "Kanji! What about the TV special you were on," Yosuke asked quickly.

Kanji frowned as he remembered it. "Oh yeah that thing... The show made my mom go apeshit on me and...". "The date! Just tell us the date," Yosuke interrupted Kanji.

Kanji was taken back by the urgency. "Uhh. I don't remember the exact date, but it wasn't too long before I met you guys," Kanji said not understanding why it was so important.

Yosuke however did. "It's true then. Everyone was on TV before they disappeared," Yosuke dropped the bomb.

" So you think the killer is targeting people he sees on TV," Chie wondered in realization.

"That would mean that the killer was targeting both me and Yukiko-san from the beginning," Viljam exclaimed in realization. "In other words, if I hadn't stumbled on the interview, I wouldn't have been targeted. I truly _was_ at the wrong place at the wrong time," Viljam added, while chuckling humorlessly at the irony.

Yu also thought of something. "That might also explain, why Nousku wasn't shown clearly on the Midnight Channel," Yu said in realization. "Maybe it was, because Amagi-san was the primary target, or because Nousku appeared only briefly," Yu explained his theory, giving everyone exclamation marks.

"But that means the killer knew where Nousku-kun would be moving that evening," Chie exclaimed in shock. That was a disturbing thought.

"True, but I think it's more likely that he just got lucky," the Finnish boy dismissed the theory, causing everyone to sigh in relief. That was more believeable than the killer knowing Viljam's exact movements.

"Now that I think about it," Yosuke then said. "The killer did move to Kanji, when he failed with Yukiko and Nousku," The headphone wearing boy pointed out. "Maybe this 'being on the TV' thing is some stupid rule the killer is following," Yosuke theorized. The killer could've targeted the two again when he failed, but he didn't

"That would mean the killer is crazy," Viljam said earning questioning looks from others. "A police show, where the culprits were always crazy people had weirder rules," Viljam explained. As much as everyone wanted to accept Viljam's explanation, that would mean the culprit is unpredictable and that was even scarier.

"Crazy killer theory aside, I think there's a definite connection between the kidnappings and the TV broadcasts," Yosuke said brushing off Viljam's comment. " Nousku might still be an exception to the victims being connected to the first case. But now we know that the victims were also shown on the mass media," Yosuke said, to which everyone agreed. "But if so, then what's the motive," the Junes boy then said causing everyone to frown.

Yu had a worried look on his face. "I'm starting to think that Nousku is right about the killer being crazy," the silverhaired boy said. Now that they thought of it, they haven't gotten anywhere with this.

"Why can't I be smarter," Yosuke whined and hit his head on the table in frustration.

"Dude, why beat yourself up," Kanji asked, earning everyone's attention. "I think you guys are awesome," the punk said sincerely. "I mean, you guys noticed what was happening to me and even risked your lives to stop it," Kanji then said, lifting everyone's spirits.

Yukiko then decided to add in, "You rescued Nousku-kun and me too.".

Viljam was also smiling. "Besides, the deduction that Kanji-san would be targeted next was right on the money," Viljam added his two cents.

"I know. We were so close," Chie lamented on the failure to catch the killer red-handed.

Kanji was surprised. "Huh? You guys knew, _before_ it happened? Man, I wish you'd come a little earlier then," the punk said, earning small laughs out of everyone.

"If we know this much, we now have the means to outsmart the killer," Yu said, renewing everyone's determination.

Chie smiled at the leader's words. "Then, it's a countdown to their arrest," the green clad girl added to their leader's words.

"Don't forget," Yukiko chimed in. "It's always possible that Kanji-kun was the last victim," the red clad girl pointed out.

Yosuke wasn't convinced. "Or so we hope. We did thwart them twice already," the headphone wearing boy said and then lifted his soda. "Here's hoping that the killer has learned their lesson by now," The Junes boy said, and everyone lifted their mugs and took a sip. "Anyways, let's keep checking the Midnight Channel like usual when it rains," Yosuke said and everyone agreed.

 **(TV World. June 6th. Few minutes later)**

Since Kanji was now on the loop about what they have been up to, the gang decided that he should visit the TV world and meet Teddie. Though strangely, Yukiko insisted on going in first. No one was sure why, but they didn't question it.

Now Kanji was staring at Teddie with others standing beside him. "Oh yeah. I kinda remember this thing;" Kanji said as he saw Teddie. "Didn't think it was a bear though. Why _is_ it a bear," Kanji then asked.

"I dunno," Yosuke shrugged.

"Me neither," Teddie said in a depressed tone. " I've been wondering that too," the bear added.

"It's kind of cute," Kanji said to no one in particular. "M-mind if I pet you," Kanji asked the bear shyly.

Teddie instantly perked up at the question. "No touching allowed, Mister," Teddie refused.

"Hey! Don't give me any lip, bear," Kanji shouted, earning a laugh from Yukiko and Viljam.

Yu decided to cut to the chase. "Teddie, do you have glasses ready for Kanji," Yu asked the bear.

Teddie's face lit up in realization. "Oh yeah! Here's a present from me, Kanji! It's to celebrate, you joining the team," Teddie exclaimed happily as he handed Kanji his glasses.

Kanji took the glasses and looked at them weirdly.

"Hurry and put them on," Yukiko said with unusual excitement.

Kanji glanced at the girl unsurely. "Sure, but aren't these different from everyone else's," Kanji questioned.

"Come on, would Yukiko-san do something evil to you," Viljam said with his usual expression. Though it was very difficult to hide his amusement.

Kanji then put the glasses on. They were same kind of gag glasses that Yukiko tried on for fun. After few seconds of silence Yukiko and Viljam bursted into uncontrollable laughter.

"I-it *eeehehee* looks perfect on you *ahhaha*," Yukiko managed to say between laughs.

"*ehhehe* Tolloalasit *kihhih*," Viljam couldn't help but say, though no one knew what it meant. That didn't stop Yukiko from laughing harder alongside Viljam. Actually, everyone but Teddie were laughing as well.

"I had a normal pair ready for you, but Yuki-chan insisted on this one," Teddie said happily. That explained why Yukiko insisted on entering first.

Kanji was NOT amused. "Yeah, real funny, you smartass," Kanji exclaimed angrily, as he took off the glasses and smacked Teddie.

"Wh-why are you taking it out on me," Teddie whined.

Kanji then grabbed the other pair of glasses Teddie was holding with a grumble. It was the same as the previous pair. Now Kanji was growling and Yukiko and Viljam had to support each other so they wouldn't keel over from their laughter.

"*Kihhihii* armoa *ehhehehee*," Viljam begged while wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

"*Heehee* *Ahhahaa*," Yukiko laughed while hugging Viljam.

"You took my spare pair," Teddie asked in bafflement. "Kanji, you must really like those," Teddie said, making Kanji's blood boil.

Now Chie was also laughing at Kanji. " *Ahaha* Oh my sides," Chie laughed. With that Yu and Yosuke joined into the laughing. Kanji took the glasses off and threw them as far as he could.

Teddie then handed out one last pair. "This is the real one," the bear said. "It wasn't easy getting it to you," Teddie said jokingly.

Kanji put on the round-lensed shades. "Why the hell'd you bother making a spare if it's just more useless crap," Kanji roared, while everyone else were laughing at his expense. "Dammit! I'll get you guys for this one day," Kanji threatened. No sooner than that was said, Viljam's laughing finally triggered an asthma attack. Thankfully the Finnish had his inhalator with him.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **Those of you who noticed, most of the dialogue is just copy-pasting from the source. Though I've had to rewrite portions of it, for obvious reasons.**

 **I hope I haven't disappointed anyone yet. Although, judging by the word count this is among my longest chapters.**

 **Translations:**

Tolloalasit= **Dummy glasses(or any word that means 'stupid person')**

armoa= **have mercy(yeah he's laughing that hard)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 **Author's notes:**

 **Translations will be at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. June 7th. Lunch time)**

Today was a rare moment for Viljam. He was sitting in the classroom with Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko eating instant noodles. Why was this rare for the Finnish boy? First: Up until now, he ate his lunches alone most of the time. Today, however, Yukiko insisted on Viljam joining them and he couldn't say no. Second: This was the day he finally tried instant noodles properly. Since the classroom was mostly empty at this time, the five were using their desks as lunch tables. It felt weird to the Finnish, but he didn't question it.

The seating order is the following: Chie and Yukiko occupied one desk, while Yu, Yosuke and Viljam, were sittting on the one next to the girls.

"This is the first time I've done something like this," Viljam idly commented earning question marks from others.

"Eating instant noodles," Yosuke asked.

The Finnish shook his head. "Eating in a classroom like this," Viljam said, earning questioning looks from others.

"How does lunch time go in Finnish schools," Yu asked in curiosity.

Viljam had a frown for just an instant before answering. "During lunch time, we go to...," Viljam trailed off while snapping his fingers. "What's the word I'm looking for," Viljam muttered earning sweat-drops from others. The guy seems so fluent in Japanese most of the time, that they tend to forget that there are still words he might not know. "I guess dining hall," Viljam said shrugging. "There we take whatever is on the menu that day and start eating," The Finnish boy explained, with slight bitterness at the last part.

"Is the food terrible," Chie asked, not sure why the Finnish was speaking with that tone.

"Sadly the menu tended to have foods that I can't stand," Viljam explained a little depressed. "Also back in middle-school when we had home economics I was put away from others, because of my...extreme reactions to some foods," Viljam explained as he remembered the many times he gagged on food that was made in those classes and not because they were poorly made.

"Finnish school sounds horrible," Yukiko said in sympathy.

"That's just how it is for me. I'm the one with very narrow food palate anyway," Viljam said like it was his fault. "Can we please talk about something else," The Finnish boy then asked, not wanting to ruin the mood with his depressing school days.

Thankfully Chie came up with a topic. "Oh right, the school campout's next week," Chie said earning everyone's attention. "I hope it doesn't rain then," the green clad girl added to her statement.

"What's it like," Viljam asked in curiosity. He has been informed about the campout, but he wasn't looking forward to it.

"Don't they hold campouts in Finland's schools," Yukiko asked the Finnish boy.

Viljam didn't have to think long. "I can't speak for all schools, but back in Hyvinkää they don't," Viljam said honestly. At least to his knowledge.

Yosuke looked at the Finnish boy in pity. "Poor you. You haven't been camping before," Yosuke said in sympathy. "Hope you'll enjoy the new experience," Yosuke said in excitement.

Chie gave the headphone wearing boy a questioning look. "Why are you so excited," Chie asked. "You do realize that the only purpose of the school campout is to 'develop a love for one's hometown in young people' right," The green clad girl added wanting to be sure Yosuke understood.

Yosuke wasn't phased. "Yeah, they tell us upfront. So," Yosuke questioned.

Chie adopted a weird look. "Well you see, the way we supposedly develop that love is by picking up trash from the mountain," Chie explained, earning question and exclamation marks from Yosuke and Viljam.

"Picking up trash," Yosuke repeated in disbelief. "Develop a love my ass! That's slave labor," Yosuke complained. Viljam agreed with a nod

Yu on the other hand wasn't really bothered. "At least we get to be outdoors," Yu said, trying to find a silver lining.

"Outdoors is for homeless, said the great wise man," Viljam said earning raised eyebrows from others.

"You don't mean yourself, do you," Yu asked the Finnish, who looked embarrassed for some reason.

"I'm flattered, but that title doesn't belong to me," Viljam said shyly.

Chie decided to redirect the course of this conversation, before the Finnish boy started to talk about weird things again. "Well the night's kinda fun. We cook our own meals with mess kits and sleep in tents," Chie explained as she remembered last year's campout.

"The four of us are in the same group," Yukiko said with a smile, which instantly fell when she remembered that Viljam is in a different group. This is why the Finnish boy wasn't looking forward to the campout.

"I don't think I will be comfortable sleeping with strangers," Viljam said in a sad tone.

Yosuke perked up at the mention of sleeping. " We four are in the same group huh?," Yosuke said with a smirk. "Does that mean we sleep together at night too," The Junes boy asked hopefully.

"You wish! Guys and girls sleep in different tents," Chie rained on Youske's parade. She then pointed a warning finger at Yosuke. "I'm warning you! If you leave your tent at night, you'll be expelled on the spot," Chie said, jabbing her finger at Yosuke for emphasis.

Viljam had a worried look. "Isn't that a little harsh," the Finnish asked, getting more worried about the campout.

Yu patted Viljam's shoulder. "Don't worry so much," Yu said reassuringly, making the Finnish slightly less worried.

Yosuke sighed. "I thought this was gonna be fun," the headphone wearing boy complained.

"It's only for one night and we disband before noon," Yukiko said, trying to cheer Yosuke up.

"We did have some fun in the river last year," Chie said, which breathed new life into Yosuke.

"Did they let you go swimming," Yosuke asked.

Chie shrugged at the question. "I think so. There's always someone who took a dip although we didn't," the green clad girl said making Yosuke grab his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"I see. So you can swim in the river," Yosuke thought aloud having a weird look on his face.

 **(Amagi Inn. June 7th. After school)**

Yukiko was walking towards Viljam's room with a large cardboard box in her arms. The delivery man brought it few minutes ago, saying it was for Viljam Nousku. Whatever was in it, it was heavy, which made it difficult for the girl to carry it. The girl could've asked someone else to take it to Viljam, but she wanted to do this herself.

"What is in this thing," Yukiko wondered for the umpteenth time when she finally reached Viljam's room. "Nousku-kun, there's a package...," Yukiko's call was cut off by the door opening and Viljam grabbing the package, before the girl could even react. Then he quickly retreated to his room, leaving bewildered Yukiko blinking in confusion. "What just happened," Yukiko questioned, before hearing a high pitched squee coming from the boy's room. What was going on in there?

Suddenly Viljam came back out and pulled Yukiko into a hug. "Thank you so much for bothering to bring me the package," Viljam squealed(?), while hugging the utterly confused Yukiko. "I didn't think I could wait anymore," The Finnish boy continued in an excited tone, before running off with some kind of bundle in his hands.

Yukiko blinked once, twice. "Who is that and what has he done to Nousku-kun?" Was the only intelligent thing Yukiko was able to say right now.

Later that evening Yukiko noticed the bundle Viljam had carried into the family fridge. On top of the bundle was a note which red: "Viljam's things. Hands off!". Now Yukiko was even more curious about what was inside the bundle that was clearly made to keep something cool. "Was this what was inside the package," The currently Kimono wearing girl wondered idly. The bundle seemed too small for such a large box. Then again, maybe this was just one thing that came in that mysterious box. Yukiko looked around to see no one was in the vicinity. Then she reached for the bundle, wanting to peek at the contents of the bundle... Only to retract her hand. "No I shouldn't snoop," Yukiko scolded herself, before closing the fridge and moving away. Maybe she could ask Viljam what was in it later.

 **(Junes. June 8th. After school)**

"So a mysterious package appeared, which made Nousku-kun squee," Chie asked her best friend, who nodded. "Then a strange bundle appears in your fridge and you had a perfect opportunity to see what was in it, but didn't," The green clad girl continued, to which Yukiko responded with a slower nod. "And you still haven't asked what was in either in the box or the bundle," Chie asked, with a raised eyebrow. Yukiko nodded even slower. "Yukiko, what is wrong with you," Chie nearly shouted in exasperation.

"I'm sorry," Yukiko apologized in shame.

Yukiko honestly had many opportunities to ask Viljam about the mysterious package, but he looked so happy all day, that she was afraid that asking about it might ruin it. When Yukiko finally gathered the courage to ask, Yosuke had said he needed to talk to Viljam and Yu about something.

Now the two were browsing around at Junes and Chie had asked Yukiko what was on her mind, which led the two to this moment.

Chie just sighed. "Don't worry about it. But who knows what was in the box," Chie wondered idly. "Maybe I could interrogate him on the contents," Chie then offered to which Yukiko instantly shook her head rapidly.

"Chie you can't. If you use force, he may cry," Yukiko said in worry. If someone had told Chie that she could make a guy cry, she would've laughed. That was before she got to know Viljam. "If it was something bad I might actually consider it, but right now he seems so happy," Yukiko added to her previous statement.

Chie sighed. "You're right, besides he looks kind of cute when he's happy," Chie said with a smile.

"Cute," Yukiko parroted the word, making Chie blush as she realized what she just said.

"N-no I mean...He just looks better w-when he's... No that's not...," Chie stammered around her own words, causing Yukiko to giggle.

"Chie it's okay," Yukiko said in an attempt to calm her best friend. "I agree with him being cute when he's happy. You have nothing to be ashamed of," Yukiko said while patting her best friend's head.

Chie frowned at the treatment. "I still think he's bad influence to you," Chie grumbled as she turned her gaze towards a row of shirts in the clothing section.

"What do you mean," Yukiko asked in slight wonder.

Chie turned towards Yukiko with a raised eyebrow. "Remember the first time you used Twin Arcana," Chie asked the red clad girl. Yukiko blushed as she remembered what she said back then.

"I-i just got caught up in the moment," Yukiko stuttered in embarrassment.

"What about you patting people on the head," Chie then asked.

"I only do that to you and Nousku-kun," Yukiko defended.

"How about the constant hugs," Chie pulled her trump card. Viljam doesn't hug Yukiko everyday, only when he feels like it, which is irregular.

"Well...he hugged you too," Yukiko reminded of the thunderstorm, when Chie clinged to the Finnish for dear life.

Chie turned redder than a tomato when she was reminded of a different incindent. " When did Kasai-san tell you," Chie asked in alarm, confusing Yukiko.

"What are you talking about," Yukiko asked, not understanding what Chie was talking about.

"Never mind," Chie quickly said as she realized Yukiko didn't mean _that_ incident. Unfortunately, the cogs were turning in Yukiko's head.

"If you don't want to talk, I might ask Kasai-san about it," Yukiko teased.

Chie sighed in defeat. "Promise me you won't tell anyone," Chie said as she looked Yukiko straight in the eyes.

Yukiko saw that her best friend wasn't comfortable about this subject, so she nodded firmly. With that Chie gave a short recount of the time Viljam hugged her in his sleep.

"Aww," Yukiko cooed.

"YUKIKO," Chie screeched.

"Sorry."

Chie then took a few calming breaths. "Look please don't tell anyone. Hanamura still teases me about...claiming him," Chie said with a wince as she remembered that Yosuke still threw jokes about claiming Viljam on her occasionally.

"But you wouldn't mind right," Yukiko asked the green clad girl.

"We're not talking about us, were talking about Hanamura having to stop teasing me," Chie whined.

"What's he teasing you about," asked Viljam, which made the girls nearly jump out of their skins.

"Where did you come from," asked the startled Chie. Then she heard a click. Viljam was holding his smart-phone in a position one would hold a camera. "Gimme that," Chie cried as she tried to reach for Viljam's phone, but he raised it beyond the frantic girls reach.

"So what was Yosuke teasing Chie-san about," Viljam asked Yukiko while Chie was trying to get to the phone that currently had an embarrassing picture of her startled face.

Yukiko almost sighed in relief as she realized that her guest-brother only heard the last part. "Nothing Chie can't handle," Yukiko said with confidence.

"Delete that picture now or I swear I will leave footprints all over your face," Chie threatened Viljam, but the Finnish boy couldn't find it in himself to take Chie seriously right now.

"Sorry but I already sent it," Viljam said causing Chie to have a look of horror.

"Who did you send it to," Chie asked with a dangerous tone.

"To my sisters," Viljam said quickly, lest Chie would make good on her threat.

Chie's anger was replaced with suspicion."Why," the green clad girl asked.

"They were curious about the people I hang out with," Viljam answered simply. "Also that kind of was the condition for them to send my package," the last one was directed at Yukiko.

Yukiko saw her chance. "What was in the package," Yukiko asked hoping that Viljam would answer.

The Finnish boy smiled. "Some delicacies from home, that I love," was Viljam's happy answer. "I was going to munch them all this week, but I think I'll save them for the campout," Viljam said with excitement. "But I should go now," Viljam then said while turning to leave. "There are plenty of pictures they want me to send about the town I'm currently living in," Viljam said before taking off.

As soon as the boy disappeared Chie sighed."Well the mystery package has been solved at least," Chie said, relieved that Viljam didn't question further on the topic they had.

"I wonder what food was in the bundle," Yukiko idly wondered. "The way Nousku-kun acted, must mean that it tastes wonderful," the red clad girl muttered loud enough for Chie to hear.

"Maybe it's some high-quality steak," Chie said dreamily. "Do you think he would let me try some," Chie asked Yukiko, who gained a thoughtful look.

"I'm sure he would. How about we ask him to bring us some at the campout," Yukiko suggested. From there the girls devolved into small talk about the possibilities of Finnish food.

 **(Dojima household. June 8th. Evening)**

Yu had just returned home to witness his uncle and Adachi having dinner. Dojima's partner has visited the house on several occasions so Yu wasn't all that surprised. After taking off his shoes Yu approached the two.

Dojima noticed the silverhaired boy's arrival. "Ah, you're back," Dojima greeted his nephew.

"Hi there," Adachi greeted as well. "You want some eel too? Fair warning: It's from a supermarket," Adachi said humorously.

Dojima frowned at Adachi. "Well, excuse me," the detective said unamused.

Adachi was startled by the possibility of his partner piling more work on him as vengeance "I-it's delicious though," the younger officer said frantically. "I can't believe it was on sale," Adachi added, not helping his case.

Dojima decided to ignore his gofer/partner and turned back to Yu. "Sorry, but this guy eats instant noodles every day. The constant slurping got on my nerves, so I called him here," Dojima explained to Yu, who nodded in understanding.

"I see," Yu said, while smiling. Adachi may be an idiot, but his visits never cease to amuse him.

"You don't have to bluff like that," Adachi butted in with his usual goofy smile. "You just wanted to eat dinner with a coworker, right," Adachi said, causing Dojima to frown at the younger detective once again.

"Don't be stupid," the older detective retorted.

Yu didn't dare to speak because he needed Dojima on a better mood right now.

Adachi however didn't know that. "But eel was a great choice! Nanako-chan loved it at least," the younger detective said. " I'd say she's eel-ly proud of her daddy! Eh? Ehh," Adachi joked, which made both Dojima and Yu sweatdrop. "Did my joke slip away? It is an eel after all," Adachi said, not getting the hint.

"Just eat your dinner," Dojima groaned at his partner's stupidity. How this guy became a detective in the first place was beyond him.

"Yes sir," complied dismayed Adachi.

"Where's Nanako," Yu then asked as he noticed the little girl missing.

"She went to her room to do her homework after eating her dinner," Dojima replied.

Adachi perked up at this. "Yeah. Nanako-chan is such a good girl. She went right to her room after cleaning her plate," Adachi complimented Dojima's daughter. "Though she could've taken her time savoring it. You don't get to eat eel everyday after all," the younger detective said.

Dojima turned to his partner with a stern look. "You think that because you slack off too much. You should follow her example," Dojima scolded.

Adachi slumped at that remark. "Way to hit, where it hurts," the younger detective whined.

Feeling that the conversation ended, Yu decided to speak up. "Uncle. There's something I need to talk to you about," the silverhaired boy said.

"What's the matter," Dojima asked.

"I was thinking about getting a motorcycle," Yu said surprising his uncle.

"A motorcycle? You mean a scooter," Dojima asked, to which Yu nodded. "Oh that's right, kids your age can ride those," Dojima said in realization. "I don't know though," the detective said.

"Come on don't be a spoilsport," Adachi butted in. "It's no surprise he wants one out here," the younger detective said. Then he turned his attention to Yu. "I understand how you feel, since I'm from the city myself," Adachi said with sympathy. "The trains don't run that often, and walking around is pretty inconvenient isn't it," Adachi then said, to which Yu nodded in agreement. "Right? It's criminal," Adachi replied to Yu's agreement.

Dojima wasn't convinced. "You say that, but...," Dojima said before Adachi decided to pipe up again.

"That remindse me," the younger detective said coyly. " I remember you telling me something once Dojima-san," Adachi kept going. "About some of the reckless things you did on your motorcycle when you were young," Adachi finished slyly. Yu raised an eyebrow at that. He had hard time imagining the hardboiled detective of Inaba doing anything like that, younger or not.

"Think before you talk, you moron," Dojima snapped at his partner. Before the older detective could chew Adachi more, his phone rang. Dojima grumbled before answering."It's me," Dojima said to the phone. After few seconds of conversation from the other end of the line, Dojima answered, "Alright, we'll be there soon.". Dojima then pocketed his phone again. "Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze," Dojima grumbled before turning to Adachi. "Adachi, you were the one in charge of that file right," the older detective inquired his partner, while standing up.

Adachi had a question mark, before the realization hit him. "Oh, did that suspicious guy show up again," the younger detective asked, earning a questioning look from Yu.

"Would you keep your mouth shut," Dojima said in annoyance, not wanting police business to be heard by a civilian. Even if the said civilian is his nephew. "Just get in the car, were going back," Dojima grumbled.

"Back? You mean to the station!? But I haven't had my eel liver soup yet," Adachi whined. Dojima answered with a commanding glare. That got Adachi to get up and moving.

As they heard the door closing, Dojima turned to Yu. " About this license, did you decide on this yourself? No one talked you into it," Dojima asked his nephew, who nodded. Truth be told Yosuke suggested it earlier at school. Though Yosuke's purpose to getting that license was to pick up girls using his motorcycle. Yu just figured it would help him moving around in Inaba and who knows, maybe he'll use motorcycle as a primary way of getting around when he moves back to the city. That last thought was pushed to the back of his head. Dojima sighed before speaking out his concerns, "I know it's hard to move around, but two wheeled vehicles can be dangerous. Do you understand?".

Yu is smart enough to know the risks and had considered them before hand. "I'll be careful," Yu said sincerely.

"I'm sure I can trust you to do that," Dojima said with a sigh. "But allowing you to get one is another thing," Yu's uncle added more sternly. "We'll talk about this more when you get the license," Dojima said, causing Yu to have a hopeful look.

"So it's alright," Yu asked, wanting to be sure.

Dojima chuckled at Yu's hopeful look. "Yes, but first you need to get that license. Then we can talk about this again," Dojima said, and with that, he moved out.

Once the door closed, Yu's phone rang. Yu answered, knowing who it was.

"Yo, it's me," Yosuke said from the phone. "How did it go with your uncle," Yosuke asked in anticipation.

"He gave me an okay," was Yu's simple answer.

"Seriously," Yosuke exclaimed in excitement. "Then let's get those licenses tomorrow," the Junes boy said in excitement.

That surprised Yu. "What? Tomorrow," the silverhaired boy questioned.

Yosuke either didn't hear or ignored Yu's words. "I gotta hit the books. Let's make sure we both pass together, then we can show Nousku what he's missing," Yosuke said in excitement. Then he hung up, before Yu could answer.

Yu looked at his phone with his mouth hung open. "Maybe I should've done what Nousku did," Yu said with slight regret. Indeed, Yosuke had proposed his idea to Viljam too, but Viljam wasn't interested. Even after Yosuke explained how to use the motorcycles to pick up girls, the Finnish wasn't interested. Now that Yu thought of it, maybe Viljam's words had some truth to them.

 **(Flashback)**

Viljam gave Yosuke a pitying look."Yosuke, you sound desperate, and girls don't like desperate guys," Viljam said, before dropping the booklet the June's boy handed to him and walked away. Yosuke was left with a slack jaw and a major bruise to his ego.

 **(back to present)**

"Maybe his Arcana come's from having insight on women," Yu thought before moving upstairs to study for tomorrow. Though he was also wondering, who is the "suspicious guy", that Adachi mentioned. Yu sighed as there was no way for him to figure that out right now.

 **(Amagi Inn(Viljam's room). June 9th. Evening)**

Viljam was happily munching on candy that came from the package his best-in-the-world sisters sent him. "Ne on niin ihania," Viljam mused as he plucked another candy in his mouth and enjoyed the fruity goodness. While Viljam planned to save the cold bundles to the campout, he figured that opening a single candy bag wouldn't kill him. The box contained more than just candies. It also had various cookies and other sweet things from Finland. If there was one thing that rivaled Viljam's love for meat, it's his sweet tooth. The only goodie that could even be considered "genuine" food, was currently in the Amagi's fridge waiting for Viljam to sink his teeth into on the school campout.

Viljam's musings were interrupted by his phone ringing. It was from Yu.

"Halloo," Viljam answered the phone happily.

"What," replied confused Yu.

"Halloo, is what you say when answering the phone," Viljam explained. Though the proper word is "haloo", it has multiple variations.

"I see," Yu said with a sweat-drop. "You sound happy. Did something happen," Yu asked in curiosity.

"I just feel happy," Viljam said with a shrug. He didn't want to tell Yu about his new sweet stash, because that would risk Yu asking to get some. Yes Viljam is selfish when it comes to sweets. "So, did you have something to say," Viljam asked in curiosity.

"Oh yes. I just wanted to warn you, we got our licenses today," Yu explained to Viljam.

"Okay," Viljam said simply. "But what does it have to do with me," the Finnish boy asked, causing Yu to face-palm at the other end of the line.

"Because Yosuke will probably brag about it to you tomorrow," Yu said exasperated.

Viljam would've frowned if he wasn't so happy right now. "Okay, but why would he brag about it to me," the Finnish boy asked in confusion.

"Nousku, remember what you said to him yesterday," Yu asked.

Viljam thought only for a moment, before he remembered."Oh right, I said he sounded desperate, and for the record: I stand behind my words," Viljam said happily, still. "I mean seriously, trying to buy a girls attention with a fancy toy sounds desperate to me," the Finnish said easily. A few seconds of silence came from Yu's end. "Haloo," Viljam called into the phone wondering if the silverhaired boy was still in there.

"Oh sorry. Well maybe you're right," Yu said, like he woke up from a trance. "Anyway, just be careful of what you say to him," Yu told Viljam.

"Aye aye sir," Viljam said mock saluting, though Yu couldn't see it. With that, Yu hung up. "Paras alkaa koisimaan," Viljam said before putting his unfinished candy bag into the sweet stash and went to brush his teeth, before going to bed.

 **(Yasogami High. June 10th. After School)**

True to Yu's warning Yosuke had been bragging about getting his license to Viljam. However, the Finnish boy didn't even bat an eye at it. When Yosuke dared to call Viljam jealous, the Finnish boy countered that he couldn't get the license in Japan. Why? Because Viljam was pretty sure that you needed to be Japanese in order to even try and even if that wasn't a problem, the Finnish boy was pretty sure it would be useless when he goes back to Finland. Lastly, when would Viljam get a motorcycle and how would he get it to Finland if he did. In short, Viljam had thought of every practical reason not to go with Yosuke's plans. Unfortunately, this only made Yosuke more convinced that the Finnish boy was just jealous.

"You know what Nousku," Yosuke said smugly, which made Viljam sigh.

"What," asked the now tired Finnish.

"Next week, me and partner will go to Okina City to pick up some chicks, then I'll come back and show you that I was right," Yosuke challenged Viljam.

The Finnish boy had a look that clearly said, "Are you an idiot?". "And if you don't get any, then I get to mock you mercilessly," Viljam countered with a smug look.

"You're on," Yosuke exclaimed and the two shook hands on it. Then the two's phones rang.

It was Yu for Yosuke and Chie for Viljam. The two answered their phones. Turns out Yu had scheduled a training day in the TV world for them today and Chie had called Viljam to tell him that.

"Well, let's go," Yosuke said and with that, the two ran off.

 **(Junes. June 16th. Afternoon)**

Today Viljam, Yu, Chie and Yukiko were at Junes grocery department getting some ingredients, for campout. Except Viljam,who said he already knew what he was taking.

"What do you put in curry again," Chie asked Yukiko.

Yukiko had a thoughtful look as she tried to recall. "Carrots, potatoes...onions, mushrooms, green peppers and...radishes," Yukiko voiced the last word as a question.

"Are radishes the same as turnips," Chie asked, causing Viljam to chuckle.

"No," the Finnish voiced his thoughts.

"Thank you Nousku," Yukiko said gratefully and the girls started to discuss among themselves.

The Finnish then turned his attention to Yu. "Let's hope radishes and turnips are the only thing Chie-san doesn't know about," Viljam whispered to Yu, who nodded.

"By the way, Yosuke told me about the bet you two made," Yu then told Viljam, who's face lit up.

"I completely forgot about that," The Finnish boy exclaimed, before adopting a sinister grin. "Have you two tried it yet," Viljam asked with mischief.

Yu adopted a pained expression. "Yes, and we both were played for fools," Yu said in shame.

Chie then turned towards Yu, interrupting the guys' conversation. "Curry's fine right," the green clad girl said(Though the green jacket was tied to her waist since summer uniforms came to use). "It's practically our national food," Chie continued.

Yukiko too turned her attention to Yu. "We were going bac and forth between ramen and curry, but I thought ramen might not be enough for you guys," the Amagi heiress explained.

Then the girls started to wonder aloud what ingredients Yosuke might like, which gave Viljam the chance to resume his talk with Yu. "I'm going to find Yosuke and cash in my victory," Viljam said smugly, earning a frown from Yu.

"Please don't, he's suffered enough already," Yu said as he remembered how Yosuke's scooter was destroyed.

Then as if on cue, Yukiko mentioned Yosuke. "Hanamura-kun is on another floor right? Do you want me to go ask," Yukiko asked Chie who shook her head.

"Nah, no need. Plus, he said he needed to get ready for something," Chie responded.

"That's what I needed to know," Viljam said, before he ran off.

"Where did he go," Chie asked Yu, who shook his head.

"Probably to find Yosuke," Yu told the girls earning question marks.

"But how is he going to find him," Yukiko asked in wonderment. After all, she never said, which floor Yosuke was at.

"I don't know." Was the most intelligent response Yu could give.

 **(On another floor)**

Yosuke was waiting on one of the clerks to bring what he asked. He was pretty excited about the campout, even though he would be picking trash, because he had something planned. "Nothing could possibly ruin my mood right now," Yosuke said cheerfully.

"Ahhaa! Löysinpäs!" sounded from behind Yosuke, causing the headphone wearing boy to flinch. He didn't need to understand the words to know who it was.

Yosuke turned to the voice to see smug looking Viljam. "Now this looks like the part where I say, 'I told you so'," the Finnish boy said smugly. Yosuke was sweating bullets at the implications.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yosuke said nervously.

"Yu-san told that you two were screwed over," Viljam said smugly.

" _Why, partner!? Why?_ " Was the thought that ran through Yosuke's head. "Fine, just get it over with," Yosuke said in defeat and braced himself for the merciless mocking.

Viljam grinned from ear to ear, before clearing his throat. "That's what you get when you rely on fancy toys, and for having desperate need to get a girl to hug you," Viljam said with smug satisfaction.

Yosuke expected more, but it never came. "And," the Junes boy questioned.

"That's it," Viljam said before walking off.

"What do you mean, 'That's it'," Yosuke shouted in disbelief.

Viljam gave a confused look. "Just what I said, that's all I had to say," Viljam shrugged before leaving with a huge grin on his face.

Yosuke thought there was more wrong with this guy's head, than his learning ability. Viljam had told Yu and Yosuke about his learning disorder during the week. "Oh well, at least he's satisfied," Yosuke sighed with relief.

"Yosuke-kun I think these are what they might like," said the clerk, who went to pick up what the Junes boy wanted.

"Thank you," Yosuke said with a grin on his face. At least the campout will be enjoyable.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **This chapter was merely a build up for the school camp out. I might spend weeks writing it, because I want that particular chapter to be perfect...Or as close to perfect as I can make it. As I said before I got the campout all planned out, but it might take me awhile to write it in a way I'm completely satisfied.**

 **I also tested if I can write good flashbacks. Did I do any good?**

 **Translations:**

Ne on niin ihania= **They're so wonderful**

Paras alkaa koisimaan= **Better start sleeping**

Löysinpäs= **Found you**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

 **Author's notes:**

 **Phew...Looks like I managed to write this faster than I expected. Wrote this completely in two days, then used the rest of the days to rewrite portions of this, until I felt completely satisfied.**

 **Regardless, I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it.**

 **Translations will be found at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Camping trip area. June 17th. Afternoon.)**

Yosuke and Yu were currently sitting on a picnic table after the day of picking trash off the mountain. Each group had one specific area to cover, which is also why the two guys and girls haven't seen Viljam for a while. Of course the two were dressed in their school jerseys like every other student.

"Man, picking up trash was murder on my back," Yosuke complained while stretching his back a little.

"You can say that again," Yu agreed.

"I mean who throws away an entire bike," Yosuke then complained as he remembered, how he had problems moving the thing.

"Someone who wanted to make our lives miserable," Yu theorized, causing Yosuke to sigh.

Then the headphone wearing boy brightened up. "Oh well, at least we get to eat what the girls have cooked," the Junes boy said in excitement. "I'm not expecting much from Satonaka, but Amagi has the whole 'traditional inn' training on her side," Yosuke said with hope.

Yu wasn't sure if he should tell his friend the truth. He was kind of hoping that Chie knew at least something about cooking, but considering that the two had bought ingredients that the silverhaired boy was pretty sure wasn't meant for curry... "You can have mine too," Yu said with that thought.

Yosuke was surprised. "Huh? Why so generous all of a sudden? Come on man just enjoy," Yosuke brushed off Yu's worries.

Not too far away the girls were cooking their curry, or that's what it's supposed to be. "Should we taste this," Yukiko wondered as she looked at the brown goop with worry.

"Huh? Only if you do it first," Chie said with equal worry.

In the end the girls just scooped one serving of curry for each of the boys and brought it to them.

"Sorry for the wait, but...," Chie said, not sure what to say to the guys. "...we put a lot of love into it," Chie said, like she was trying to convince herself.

Yosuke didn't think much about Chie's stammering. "That's kinda cliched, but still awesome," Yosuke chuckled. "Now then, chow time," Yosuke exclaimed and took a spoonful into his mouth, while Yu was praying for Yosuke's health. It didn't take long for Yosuke to start gagging on the disgusting concoction, before spitting it out. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS," Yosuke yelled, as he got up, while still coughing. "Curry's supposed to be 'spicy' or 'kinda mild'. This just stinks," Yosuke ranted at the girls, who flinched at the criticism. "It's so freaking nasty that I can't even swallow it," the Junes boy yelled.

Chie had a sheepish look." Well, it just didn't mix too well," Chie weakly defended. "But it does offer a wide variety of textures," the Kung Fu loving girl added unhelpfully.

"It's nauseating," Yosuke shouted.

"Come on! It's not that bad. That's just YOUR opinion," Chie protested. With that, the girls turned an expectant gaze towards Yu.

The silverhaired boy paled at the thought of trying this thing.

Yosuke turned towards his friend too. "I'm telling this as a friend: Don't do it," Yosuke said seriously, not that Yu needed to be told.

Yu weighed his options. Taste the curry and get a food poisoning, or hurt the two girls' feelings. Both options felt horrible. Yu also considered pretending to be eating and discarding it, but the girls ahad their eyes on him. In the end, Yu said his prayers and tasted the thing. And he spat the thing out, before fainting.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Yu had regained conciousness and was standing next to Yosuke, who was staring the girls down.

"We're sorry," Chie apologized.

"Sorry," Yukiko joined in.

"What're we gonna do," Yosuke said in despair. "Our group's the only one without food," the Junes boy complained.

"Hey guys," Viljam said surprising everyone.

"How do you do that," Yu asked the Finnish, who time and time again appeared out of no-where.

Viljam tilted his head in confusion as he twirled his jersey jacket in his hand, revealing his dark blue sport shirt. "Do what," the Finnish boy asked, before he took a look at everyone's faces. "Why do you guys look so miserable," Viljam then asked the group, reminding them of their predicament.

"Because these two tried to poison us," Yosuke said, making the girls hang their heads in guilt.

"They can't be that horrible, can they," Viljam asked dreading the answer.

"Why don't you tell us," Yu said while pointing at the two plates of curry that had been untouched, since the two boys tasted them.

Viljam walked towards one of the plates and sniffed the curry, recoiling at the stench. The Finnish boy then turned a disbelieving look towards the girls, who seemed to shrink at the gaze. "I...I don't know what to say," Viljam said, feeling pity at the girls and the other guys.

Chie then had a hopeful look. "Nousku-kun, please tell us that you still have something to eat," Chie begged the Finnish boy.

"I'm sorry," Viljam said with a sad look. "I already ate it all," the Finnish admitted crushing their last shred of hope. "All I have left are these," Viljam said and fished out a red candy bag out of his pant pocket.

"At this point anything is fine," Yu said with a sigh, to which the other three nodded furiously.

The Finnish boy then sighed and opened the candy bag. "Hopefully, you'll at least feel better if nothing else," Viljam said and offered the bag to everyone. All three instantly took some candy out of the bag.

"What is this," asked Yosuke after noticing that the candy was diamond shaped and black. Yu, Chie and Yukiko too were inspecting the strange looking candy.

"It's salmiakki," Viljam said like it should tell them all they need.

"Yeah but what is it," Yu asked again, and Viljam just stared at the silverhaired boy like he was crazy.

"It's candy that you eat. Like this," Viljam said and plucked a single salmiakki into his mouth. The four saw how Viljam had a wide smile on his face as he chewed. That was all the reassurance the other four needed and they all put their black candies to their mouth. After a single bite, the four gagged at the horrible taste and spat them out, which earned a look of shocked horror from the Finnish. "What the heck is wrong with you," Viljam cried.

This earned a disbelieving look from the other four. "What's wrong with _us_ ," shouted Chie. "What's wrong with YOU for giving us that, that...thing," the girl cried in anger. Viljam shrank away at the girl's anger

"Do you even actually, LIKE that stuff," Yosuke shouted, while pointing at the innocent looking salmiakki bag. Viljam only answered with a nod. "You're insane," Yosuke shouted.

The other four didn't know this, but salmiakki is a candy that was pretty popular in Nordic countries. Viljam has heard that people outside Nordic countries vomit at the taste, but he never believed it. Not to mention that this particular salmiakki brand he has, is one of the milder ones.

"Sorry," was all Viljam was able to say to them.

Then everyone heard King Moron yelling, "All right, back to your tents! Men's tents are this way, and the girl's tents are that way!".

Yosuke glared at the girls. "You guys are gonna pay for this," Yosuke hissed.

Chie laughed nervously."...Night." was all the short haired girl could say. With that, everyone went to their tents to try and sleep.

 **(That Evening)**

Yosuke's stomach growled. "Dammit. I'm so hungry," Yosuke wailed in misery. "And how the hell did you end up here," Yosuke exclaimed to Kanji, who was with them.

"My teach threatened to hold me a year if I didn't show," Kanji explained. "And the first year's tent is all quiet, like someone died," the punk added.

"Not surprising, with you there," Yosuke said in annoyance.

Kanji then looked around the tent. "Is it just you three here," Kanji asked. Aside from Yosuke and Yu, Viljam was also there, but he was already asleep. Strangely, Viljam had put his sleeping mat right in front of the tent entrance. Now he was wrapped in a thin blanket and breathing softly.

"The other guys called in sick. Smart move," Yosuke said in annoyance.

"As for Nousku, he has permission from King Moron to stay in our tent," Yu took over.

Kanji was surprised to hear this. "That prick gave _him_ a permission to stay here," Kanji asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, we couldn't believe it either," Yosuke said. "Supposedly, Nousku was convinced that the guys in his tent wanted to kill him, so he begged to be moved to another tent," Yosuke explained to Kanji.

"The heck," Kanji shouted in disbelief. "Which tent is it? I wanna take those punks down," Kanji said with determination.

"Don't," Yu said sternly. "I'm pretty sure, Nousku is just exaggerating," Yu said, trying to prevent Kanji from doing anything stupid.

Kanji calmed down. "If you say so, senpai," Kanji conceded.

Yosuke then took a look at Viljam, who hasn't moved an inch from his sleeping spot. "Is that guy seriously sleeping through all the noise we're making," Yosuke asked in disbelief.

Yu too was a little curious and moved towards Viljam and put his hand above his nose and mouth. "Well, he is breathing at least," Yu informed them, before moving back. "Maybe we should at least try to sleep," Yu said, wanting to sleep this whole thing off.

"Couldn't we have ordered something," Yosuke asked as he remembered that he was still hungry.

Yu checked his phone. "No service," Yu said, bursting Yosuke's bubble.

"Let's just get to sleep," Yosuke complained and took a comfortable position.

"Uhh. Senpai, mind if I stay here," Kanji asked.

"Sure," Yu responded simply and they got to sleep.

 **(Few minutes later)**

The guys still couldn't sleep.

"Kanji, can't you scoot over more," Yosuke asked. Strange thing about that question was, that there wasn't even a lack of space, and Yu was in the middle of the two.

"Why should I," Kanji asked.

"Uhh. Isn't there more space on your side," Yosuke asked carefully.

"What's up with you," Kanji asked in slight annoyance.

Yosuke had an awkward look on his face. "Uhh. This is as good time as any, so...," Yosuke trailed off.

Kanji glanced to Yosuke's direction. "Yeah," Kanji said in expectation.

Yu had a worried look as Yosuke took a deep breath. "Are you...You know...," Yosuke asked with difficulty.

"Am I really what," Kanji asked, getting impatient.

Yu figured out what Yosuke wanted to ask." Yosuke, don't," Yu said in a warning tone.

But he was ignored. "What I'm trying to ask is...Are we gonna be safe alone with you," Yosuke asked.

It took a moment for Kanji to realize what that meant, but when he did, he quickly got up. "Wh-wh-what the hell's that supposed to mean!? I already told you guys I'm not like that," Kanji yelled at Yosuke, who also got up.

"Then why are you so hot and bothered about it!? That's even more suspicious," Yosuke retorted. Yu was trying to signal Yosuke to quit it, but he either wasn't noticed or was ignored.

Kanji was not amused. "HELL NO! We settled this already, I no longer have problem with girls anymore," Kanji shouted.

"Can you prove it," Yosuke asked, causing Yu to facepalm.

"Yosuke just stop it," Yu tried to break the argument.

Yosuke turned towards Yu."Dude! If he can't prove himself, then I'll be stuck here all night, half scared to death," Yosuke said, which gave Kanji an idea.

"Fine! If you want proof, then I'll sleep in the girl's tent," Kanji shouted, earning exclamation marks from Yu and Yosuke.

"Whoa, whoa! You don't have to go that far," Yosuke said, regretting he ever asked the question that started this.

Yu wasn't going to let Kanji get himself expelled. "Kanji, listen to me! If you go out there and King Moron finds you, you'll be expelled," Yu explained to Kanji, but he wasn't listening.

"Nuh-uh! I'm not gonna take this crap," Kanji shouted. "Nothing's going to stop Kanji Tatsumi," Kanji shouted, before running to the entrance. Yu could only watch as Kanji jumped over Viljam and ran to the girl's side.

"I declare myself not responsible for anything that happens," Yosuke quickly said, which made Yu sigh in defeat.

The silverhaired boy then held his face in frustration. "I tried. I really did," Yu said, like he was trying to convince himself.

 **( In the girls' tent)**

Yukiko and Chie were unable to sleep. Not only were they hungry, but there was also a buzzsaw that kept making noise. That buzzsaw was named Hanako Ohtani, the obese girl who thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Ugh. I can't sleep," Chie complained, while pacing in the tent. Then her stomach rumbled. "I should've eaten a little of that curry," Chie whined as she held her empty stomach.

"It would've knocked you unconcious," Yukiko, who was currently lying down, said.

"I wonder what Nousku-kun ate," Chie wondered about what the Finnish boy had eaten. "Why didn't we ask him to share," the brunette then complained.

"Because we thought we wouldn't have to," Yukiko reminded Chie with a heartbroken voice. This did nothing to improve Chie's mood. And the only thing the boy had left were those disgusting black things he called candy.

"Of all the things he had to have left, why those things," Chie whined.

"Because he liked them, and he didn't know we wouldn't," Yukiko said monotonously. "Do you think he did it on purpose," Yukiko then voiced the doubt she had.

That made Chie stop in her tracks. "...I'm gonna kill him," Chie said with a terrifyingly convincing tone.

Now Yukiko got up in shock of what she heard. "Chie, you can't," Yukiko cried. "There's no way Nousku-kun would've actually done such a thing," Yukiko tried to calm down her best friend.

Chie was seething with anger, but Yukiko was able to get through to her. In the end Chie calmed down with a sigh. "You're right, he's not evil. Besides, he already apologized," Chie sighed in defeat.

Seeing as she was able to calm Chie down, Yukiko flopped back down. "I wonder what Teddie's doing right now," Yukiko muttered idly in an attempt to direct her thoughts away from their predicament.

"Beats me," Chie replied with a shrug. "You know, the other day he...," the brunette trailed off. Then the hunger, tiredness and the living buzzsaw finally took their toll on Chie's sanity. "THAT DOES IT! Yukiko, we're outta here," Chie cried in desperation.

Yukiko didn't even move from her spot. "Where'd we go though? I don't think climbing down the mountain's a good idea," Yukiko pointed out emotionlessly.

" We can't sleep, we can't walk around and that snoring pig is getting on my nerves," Chie complained while glaring at the snoring girl.

Yukiko then got up with an eerie look on her face. "Do you think she'd stop snoring if I cover her nose and mouth," Yukiko asked with an underlying tone of murderous intent.

Chie snapped her head towards her best friend. "Nononononono! Yukiko, NO," Chie cried, hoping to stop her best friend from committing a murder. Then Chie finally looked like she was going to cry. "I can't take it anymore," Chie half sobbed. Then a noise came from outside of their tent. "Who's there," Chie cried in alarm.

 **(Guys' tent)**

Yosuke and Yu had shut their tents entrance and were in the middle of talking amongst themselves.

"Hey. Are you guys still up," came Chie's voice from outside, giving the two guys exclamation marks.

"What are you doing here!? This is the guys' side," Yosuke exclaimed.

"Let us in," Chie whisper-yelled from outside.

Yosuke was having none of that."Don't be ridiculous! If King Moron finds you, we'll all be expelled. Go back to your tent," Yosuke commanded.

"We can't," was Chie's desperate reply, earning question marks from the two boys.

Then everyone heard King Moron's voice, "Are there any rotten apples out and about!? Any indecent students out there?".

Yu made a split-second decision there. "Get in here, quick! But don't step on Nousku, he's sleeping right at the entrance," Yu warned the two as he quickly opened the tent flaps and let the girls jump over the still sleeping Viljam.

After closing the tent again, Yu sat down with Yosuke. "Now why are you two here," Yu asked the girls.

"Well, it's Kanji-kun," Yukiko said, nervously. "He's...out cold," she explained, earning questioning looks from the guys.

"Out cold," Yu questioned.

Chie nearly flinched at the question. "I-I don't know what happened," Chie stuttered. "He just came in and then...fainted all of a sudden," she explained to the guys.

" He fainted," Yosuke asked in suspicion.

"Just like that," Yu added.

"Uhh. Yeah, that's what happened, right Yukiko," Chie said and then turned to the black haired girl.

"Huh? Oh, yeah..," Yukiko agreed quickly.

"So, there was no way we could've slept with him lying there, you know...And if we woke him up, he might've made a fuss. That's why we left him there," Chie explained, earning a sweatdrop from the guys.

"That makes no sense," Yosuke said. "He busted into your tent and suddenly fainted," the Junes boy repeated in disbelief.

Yu was going to add his piece of mind into the mix, but then they heard King Moron again, "Listen up! Being insolent and being indecent are very different things!". The loud mouthed teacher was definitely closer now.

"Quick! Turn the light off," Yosuke whispered frantically, but Yu didn't even need to be told.

After turning the light off, Yu looked towards the girls. "Don't make a sound," Yu whispered to the girls, who nodded and covered their mouths.

After few seconds of agonizing silence, they could make out King Moron's silhouette through their tent. "Hey! Are you two in there? Answer me," Morooka yelled.

Yu looked at his panicked friends, before answering. "We're not here," Yu said loudly. Yosuke looked like he wanted to scream at Yu, while the girls had terrified looks.

"Huh? Ahhh, so you're in there," Morooka said in realization. "Is Hanamura asleep," King Moron then asked.

Without thinking, Yosuke answered,"Yes sir! Fast asleep sir!".

"Don't get cute, Hanamura! Shut up and get to sleep," King Moron yelled before turning to leave. Everyone started to breathe easily again until..."Is Nousku there too," King Moron asked, causing them to flinch.

They took a look at Viljam, who was snoozing away without a care in the world. Yu tried poking the Finnish boy multiple times, each attempt being more forceful than the previous. But Viljam wouldn't react. "Yeah, he's sleeping right now," Yu told the teacher, hoping that it would be enough.

King Moron stood in front of the tent before replying," I don't believe you.". And now the four were truly scared. They all saw King Moron crouching towards the zipper of their tent, before the teacher spoke again "I'm going to do a check right now, and if I don't find him there, I will expell all thr-".

"TÄÄLLÄ YRITETÄÄN NUKKUA!"

All four nearly screamed at the sudden yell. The girls would've actually done it, if they weren't covering their mouths. King Moron stopped in his tracks.

"Ahh. So you ARE in there," The teacher exclaimed. "Don't you know it's rude to not answer immediately," King Moron lectured

"HILJAA!" Was yelled next.

"Don't get smart with me! Shut up and get to sleep," King Moron yelled again, not even understanding what the Finnish was yelling. Then the teacher yawned. "I think I had one too many. I'm so sleepy...," the teacher idly muttered in a tired tone and walked off.

As soon as the four we're absolutely sure King Moron left, they released the collective breath they were holding.

"There goes several years of my life-span," Yosuke sighed.

"No joke," Chie added in. "We were nearly expelled," the girl continued.

Yosuke was reminded of how they were in this situation again. "This is you guys' fault," Yosuke said angrily, earning exclamation marks from the girls.

Yu wasn't pleased either. "What were you two thinking," Yu asked too, though he was just annoyed at their lack of thinking.

"Wh-What else were we supposed to do," Chie cried. "Anyways we can't leave now. We'll sneak out before the others wake up tomorrow. Is that good enough for you," Chie said.

Yu sighed. The girls were right. If they snuck out now, there was a risk of King Moron seeing them and that would be the end of their high school days. "I guess there's no helping it. You can stay," Yu said.

Before Yosuke could speak up, Chie decided to add a little condition. "You better not try any funny stuff while we're asleep, is that clear," Chie said sternly to the boys.

Yosuke was baffled at the situation. "Hey! Don't I have a say in this," The Junes boy complained, getting a stern look from Chie and a pleading one from Yukiko. "Urgh...You guys owe us for this," Yosuke gave in.

With that, the four made a barricade using their belongings.

Yukiko then glanced at Viljam, who still hadn't moved from his spot. "It's hard to believe Nousku-kun was able to yell at Morooka-sensei like that," Yukiko commented on the Finnish boy's yelling. Everyone calls the annoying teacher King Moron, but Yukiko was probably the only student who doesn't find it in herself to do it.

Yu moved towards Nousku and shook him a little. The Finnish got up so fast that Yu backed off. "Mitä," Viljam asked sleepily and his eyes were only partly open.

Yu tried to remember if Viljam had used that word before, but he doesn't recall such an incident. Still, based on the situation, Viljam had to be asking what was going on. "I wanted to thank you for waking up when you did," Yu told the Finnish, who just tilted his head in confusion.

"Täh? Ärrh...Suut suppuun ja päät tyynyyn," Viljam answered deliriously, before flopping back down. Everyone was left confused.

"What was that," Yosuke was the first to question what happened.

Yu could only lift his hands in the universal sign of "I don't know". "Maybe he's half asleep and isn't entirely aware of what just happened," Yu theorized.

Chie only had a relieved look. "I'm just happy that he woke up just in time to drive King Moron away," the brunette said as she set up her and Yukiko's sleeping spot.

Yosuke then had a thought. "By the way, shouldn't you warn Nousku from doing any funny stuff," he said slyly.

"Shut the faucet, Hana," Chie said remembering the joke Viljam had made on Yosuke's name, which made Yukiko giggle.

"E-kö s-na ku-lu va' e-kö se t-hoa," came a muffled complaint from the half-asleep Finnish boy.

Yosuke just sighed and went to sleep on the side he and Yu took. The four had decided to leave Viljam as he is, since he wasn't in their way.

A few minutes later, a noise was heard. It was a long sound that sounded like a mixture of creaking board and croaking.

"What's that," whispered a slightly disturbed Chie. Yukiko just looked curiously around her, trying to locate where the sound was coming from.

Yosuke covered his face with his hands."Not again," came from the Junes boy.

This earned Chie's attention. "Wh-What do you mean again," Chie stuttered in a terrified voice.

Yu got up from his spot. "Few minutes before you two came in here, this sound started for a few moments," Yu informed them about the sound that was still going on. "I tried to locate it, but just when I thought I could pinpoint the source, it ended," Yu explained.

Yukiko wasn't scared at all for some reason. "Hey, Chie. Don't you think this sounds like the ghost from that horror movie," Yukiko asked in a way too excited tone. Now that Yukiko mentioned it, the croaking sound did resemble the noise the ghost made in the movie.

"Why did you have to say it," Chie whimpered. Because of that movie, Chie couldn't sleep for weeks. She even kept the lights on in her room for the said weeks.

Yosuke chuckled at the shorter girl's terror."Come on, ghosts don't exist," Yosuke said in confidence.

Yu had a thoughfult look. "Shadows and a strange world inside a TV exists. Who's to say that ghosts don't exist too," Yu said with eerie calmness, completely shattering Yosuke's courage.

While this was happening, the croaking sound was still going on. Then it suddenly stopped.

Chie was now hugging Yukiko for dear life. "Please be gone,pleasebegonepleasebegone," Chie whimpered, as Yukiko hugged her back.

"It's okay Chie," Yukiko said while stroking the slightly shorter girl's back soothingly.

Yosuke was equally scared, but he had nothing to cling into and he'd rather get killed by the ghost than hug Yu or Viljam.

Yu had long since flopped back down and was already sleeping soundly.

Yosuke on the other hand was now too scared to sleep."Ghosts don't exist. Ghosts don't exist. Ghosts don't exist. Ghosts...don't...exist...," Yosuke kept chanting until, he finally fell asleep.

Few minutes after everyone was fast asleep, Viljam's mouth parted in his sleep, and out came the croaking sound they had heard. After a few seconds, the Finnish boy's mouth closed, ending the sound.

 **(The river. June 18th. Morning)**

True to their words, the girls snuck out before anyone else woke up. However, they still had to move Kanji back into the guys' tent. Luckily no one had gotten up during that time to witness the spectacle.

Now the students had been dismissed and the gang was currently in front of the river.

Yosuke looked around. "Looks like we're the only ones here," the Junes boy said cheerfully.

Viljam had to admit, the faint rainbow he saw from the small waterfall was pretty. Then he looked down the cliff at the river below and felt a little faint. It wasn't too long of a way down, but to the Finnish boy that was still a little scary.

While Viljam took in the fall Yosuke had turned towards Kanji, who didn't look well. "What's wrong? Feeling sick," Yosuke asked.

Kanji shook his head. "No it's just...I thought I got pissed off and ran out of the tent last night," Kanji said, trying to remember. "But when I woke up I was in Yosuke- and Yu-senpai's tent. Was it just a dream," Kanji questioned.

"It was a dream. Must've been a dream," Chie said frantically.

"Okay...," Kanji said questioningly.

"Well then, let's get swimming," Yosuke said cheerfully, earning a questioning look from Kanji.

"Are you seriously taking a swim? I'll pass I'm still all stiff," Kanji said in slight complain.

Yu then glanced towards Viljam who had taken a seat on a nearby rock. "What about you, Nousku," the silverhaired boy asked, earning Viljam's attention.

"I didn't bring my swimwear," Viljam said, while stretching the tiredness out of his muscles.

Chie then got a question mark when Yosuke was staring at her and Yukiko. "What are you looking at us for? If you guys wanna swim, go right ahead," the girl said in mild confusion.

Yosuke had a smirk at that. "You know, you two still owe us," Yosuke said slyly. This made the girls worried, while Kanji had a question mark and Viljam looked at the Junes boy questioningly.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, we're not going in there," Chie exclaimed. "I mean, we do owe you but...," the girl trailed off as she tried to come up with an excuse. Then it hit her. "Oh! We don't have swimsuits with us! Man of all the luck," Chie said with a false disappointment.

"Y-yeah it is unfortunate," Yukiko chimed in.

Yosuke's smirk never faltered. "Oh, I see how it is," Yosuke said with an accusing tone. "We put up with your dinner, we save you from King Moron and you won't even have some fun with us in the river," Yosuke listed, in an attempt to guilt the girls.

Viljam turned a confused look towards Yu. "What does he mean by 'saving them from King Moron," Viljam asked the silverhaired boy.

Yu pulled Viljam away from the others and whispered into his ear last night's happenings. Viljam's eyes widened. The Finnish boy remembered waking up briefly to a noise, but he didn't know it was King Moron who he yelled at. Not to mention, the girls sneaking into the guys' tent.

Viljam gave the girls a look that made them wither. "Really," was the only thing the Finnish was able to say. The girls couldn't help but nod. "Ja sanovat minua hulluksi," Viljam muttered in Finnish.

Yosuke had a triumphant look, even though he didn't understand what Viljam said. "See? You two are being selfish right now," Yosuke said accusingly.

Chie refused to back down. "N-no, it's really too bad. It'd be no problem if I just had a swimsuit," Chie said, while laughing nervously.

Yosuke had a smug look as he pulled out two swimsuits. "Tada! I've got you covered," Yosuke said, earning questioning looks from the guys and double exclamation marks from the girls. "They're Junes-brand originals, from our brand-new line of swimwear that just came out this summer," Yosuke explained. "I had a clerk friend of mine pick them out for me. Pretty swanky huh," the Junes boy said smugly.

Chie didn't agree, "Dude! That's just wrong.".

"And how do you even know they're right size," Viljam added, but no one paid him any attention.

"Did you have those the whole time," Yukiko questioned in disbelief.

Yosuke ignored Yukiko's question. "Come on let's go swimming," The Junes boy said excited.

Chie turned towards her friend. "What should we do Yukiko," Chie asked her best friend, hoping that she would have an answer.

"It'd be no problem if I just had a swimsuit," Yosuke imitated Chie's previous words.

Yukiko turned towards Viljam. "Nousku-kun, say something," the black haired girl pleaded.

Viljam turned his head away. "I have no say in this," The Finnish answered, earning looks of shocked betrayal from the girls.

"He's right you know," Yu finally said. "Besides, Yosuke and I were looking forward to that dinner," Yu said, causing the girls to grumble.

"I wonder what would've happened, if we didn't help you guys last night," Yosuke chimed in, causing the girls to slump in defeat, while Kanji was confused at the situation. With one last grumble, the girls grabbed the swimsuits and left to change.

 **(Few moments later)**

Yu and Yosuke had already changed into their swimming trunks and were now waiting for the girls.

Yosuke was getting impatient. "How far did those two go to get changed," Yosuke wondered.

"With you around, I'm not surprised," Viljam said, earning a frown from Yosuke.

Before Yosuke could retort, the girls had come back. "Come on let's get in," Chie said, with little to no enthusiasm. Her swimsuit was a two piece, with a striped top that had colors ranging from orange to yellow and green. The bottom was cyan colored.

Yukiko's swimsuit was a white two piece, with the bottom having short skirt-like extension.

Yosuke whistled at the sight, Kanji's face went red and Yu nodded in approval. Viljam had only taken a glance before turning his head away.

Chie didn't like the looks she was getting. "Stop staring like that," Chie shouted while blushing.

Yukiko was also blushing, while staring at her feet. "It's embarrassing," Yukiko said with a small voice.

"You two look cute," Yu complimented the girls, making their faces redder.

"You have to admit, I picked some good swimsuits," Yosuke said in smug satisfaction. "Don't you think so Nousku," Yosuke asked from the Finnish boy, who was still looking away. "Nousku," Yosuke called again, but received no response.

"Maybe he doesn't agree," Yu guessed, which made Yosuke frown.

Nousku,can you hear me," Yosuke raised his voice.

Viljam finally faced Yosuke. "Yes and I'm ignoring you," Viljam said. "I don't have any part in this," the Finnish boy said with his arms crossed.

Yosuke then had a brilliant idea. "Come on. Are you saying she looks ugly," Yosuke asked with false shock.

This widened Viljam's eyes. "Hey! Chie-san is pretty," Viljam shouted, which made Chie blush even redder.

"Don't say that all of a sudden," Chie shouted in embarrassment, shifting Viljam's attention to the girl.

"But he insulted you, Chie-san. He's too dumb to understand how pretty you are," Viljam retorted. Chie was shellshocked at the compliment. Then Viljam went red as he realized what he just said.

"Yosuke didn't say anything about Satonaka-san," Yu chimed in.

"But he clearly said-," Viljam's retort was cut off when his brain started to process Yosuke's words. "...I hate you...," was all Viljam was able to say, after realizing he'd been had.

"Hahha! This is going even better than I expected," Yosuke cheered. "Kinda makes up for having to eat that Mystery Food X last night," The Junes boy said, snapping the girls at attention. "And I even got some laughs on Nousku," Yosuke added making Viljam slump. "Those girls may be childish on the inside, but they'll turn into some fine looking women one day," Yosuke said, making the girls feel a little angry. "Don't you think so, Yu and Nousku," Yosuke asked the two.

"You're right about that," Yu replied, which made the girls angrier.

"I'm staying out of this," Viljam said, earning questioning looks from Yu and Yosuke.

Yosuke snorted. "Come on, aren't you happy for seeing that Satonaka can at least look _pretty,_ " the Junes boy teased, which made Viljam look at the ground in embarrassment.

"You guys crossed the line," Chie said angrily.

"Definitely," Yukiko added and before anyone could react, the girls pushed Yu and Yosuke off the cliff.

Viljam lifted his head and put his hand on his ear to hear the two guys screaming as they fell down, until he heard the splash. The Finnish boy nodded in satisfaction.

Yosuke and Yu stood up in the river, while shivering with cold. "Man it's f-freezing! You didn't have to push us in," Yosuke shouted at the girls, who were looking down on them figuratively and literally.

"Who cares," Chie called back. "You were going in anyway," Chie added.

Viljam peered down at the two shivering boys. "I'm sorry to say this Yosuke, but that's what you get for saying things like that," Viljam called down to the Junes boy, who only glared at the Finnish boy in response.

Chie smiled at Viljam's words. "See? Nousku-kun gets it," Chie called down smugly. "They're the worst, aren't they Kanji-kun," Chie said while turning her attention to the punk, who had his back turned to them. "Hey, you've been quiet the whole time. Don't tell me I kicked-," Chie stopped herself from finishing that sentence.

Kanji turned to the girls. "Huh," the punk asked, revealing that his nose was bleeding.

"EWW," Yukiko cried before pushing Kanji off the cliff to join the other two.

"KANJI," Viljam shouted in concern as the first year fell in with a loud splash.

Yukiko then sighed with a relief," That was close.".

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING," Kanji shouted from the river, while shivering with cold. "ACHOO," Kanji then sneezed.

Viljam had turned towards Yukiko with a disapproving look. " Yosuke and Yu-san I understand, but what did Kanji-san do to deserve that," Viljam asked the girl.

Yukiko directed a sweet smile at the Finnish boy. "Oh, I'm sorry, Nousku-kun. Did you want to join him," Yukiko replied with an overly sweet voice. Viljam quickly got away from the edge of the cliff and shook his head rapidly. "Good boy," Yukiko said and patted Viljam's head.

Then they heard a sound. "What's that," Chie wondered.

Viljam walked towards the area, where he heard the sound coming from. "Is that King Moron," Viljam asked after spotting a person hunched over the edge of the river further upstream. "Is he vomiting," The Finnish then questioned aloud. The three boys in the river heard Viljam, and got exlamation marks at the implication.

Chie gasped. "So that's why no one else is here," the short haired girl said in startled realization. "Good thing we noticed, before we went in," Chie said and the three guys turned green from hearing that.

Down in the river, Yosuke was getting glared at by Yu. "Yosuke...," Yu said in an annoyed tone.

"Senpai...," Kanji butted in as he noticed something flowing in the river.

"Don't. Say it," Yosuke grumbled through clenched teeth.

The three boys felt like a million showers wouldn't make them clean.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I hope I lived up to your expectations, with how I hyped about this chapter.**

 **To those who wonder: Yes I made Ju-On reference here. Where did the idea come from? Well my sisters and I watched the movie once, and when the croaking sound of Kayako came out, little sis mentioned that it was similar to the sound I occasionally made in my sleep. I couldn't resist using it here.**

 **Just for the record: I had some difficulty writing the team's reactions to salmiakki, because a person like me who grew up with the taste can't comprehend why it's so bad to others.**

 **Translations:**

TÄÄLLÄ YRITETÄÄN NUKKUA= **PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE**

HILJAA= **QUIET( or SILENCE, if you prefer)**

Mitä= **W** **hat**

..Suut suppuun ja päät tyynyyn= **Mouths shut and heads to the pillow(In other words: shut up and get to sleep)**

Ja sanovat minua hulluksi = **And they call me crazy**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 **Author's notes:**

 **I noticed that my chapters have become longer lately. Is that a bad thing or a good thing?**

 **Anyway, in case you haven't noticed I made a collection about ideas that I wanted to use in this story, but decided against them for one reason or another. I was wondering if I should write more. Honestly I have a ton of ideas for that, but some of them I need to hold back until I reach the point where those few who don't know won't get spoilers. Should I write those too, or do you want me to focus completely on this one? If I don't get answers I will write at least two more of those when I feel like it.**

 **Translations will be found at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Amagi Inn. June 19th. Daytime)**

After the six returned home, Viljam had decided that he would at least try and make up for the mistake of giving them salmiakki. So here he was in the kitchen, cooking one of his favorite dishes he has learned to make, cream sausage sauce.

In the cold wrapping Viljam had received was four packs of sausages from Finland. He took one to the campout for grilling. Now however, he had decided to make some food to apologize to others for the salmiakki incident. That's why he had called the rest of the team to try it. Although Kanji wasn't even involved, the Finnish boy still decided to invite him too.

"Okkei, hyvän näköisiä," Viljam mused as he reduced the heat on the stove which he used to fry the sausages he had cut to pieces. Then he went to get the next required ingredient, the food cream. Thankfully, the frying pan he was using was pretty big, so he could dump all of it into the mix. While this was happening, a timer went off. The Finnish boy quickly checked the pot he was using to boil potatoes in. "*mhm* Kypsiä ovat," Viljam mused before turning off the heat and putting the pot on an unused stove plate.

Viljam then noticed the cream he added into the pan was now boiling. He quickly turned the heat down, before picking the last ingredient he needed, ketchup. Viljam squirted a huge amount of it into the pan and then started mixing it. After the coloring became even, he took a small spoon and tasted the sauce. Viljam added some more ketchup, before tasting again and nodded in approval. "Valmis," the Finnish said in triumph and turned off the heat.

 **(In the Amagi Dining hall)**

The rest of the gang was gathered in Amagi family's dining table and were waiting for Viljam to show off his cooking.

"Are you guys sure he knows what he's doing," Yosuke asked a little sceptically. After the girls' Mystery Food X, the Junes boy wasn't entirely trusting on Viljam's cooking. Granted there was no reason to doubt him right now, but Yosuke used to think the same about Yukiko.

"Nousku did say, he knew simple recepies," Yu said, having some hope. Actually earlier in the day, Yu had met Viljam in Junes. The Finnish boy had just bought the ingredients he needed for his dish. The silverhaired boy was curious about the Finnish only having food cream, potatoes and ketchup and asked about the dish. At Viljam's answer, Yu was a little skeptical about the too simple ingredients, but the Finnish assured him that it was better than it might sound.

"Well, he did say it was something he was 100 percent sure couldn't fail," Yukiko added in. The red clad girl wanted to help Viljam, but her guest-brother assured her that he can handle it.

Just then Viljam stuck his head into the room, "Yukiko-san could you come and help me a little," Viljam called to the red clad girl, who got up and followed the Finnish boy.

Yosuke had a horrified look. "Please don't tell me, he's going to ask her help in preparing the food," the Junes boy said with worry.

"Hey! That wasn't nice," Chie complained at Yosuke, but the headphone wearing boy didn't care.

Yu let out a sigh of relief. "At this point it's more likely that he needs help carrying the food here," Yu said in confidence.

Before anyone could respond to that, Viljam and Yukiko came in carrying the pan and pot in their hands. "Okay everyone. I hope you like this," the Finnish boy said before putting the pan down on the table. Yukiko did the same with the pot. Then the two took their seats.

"The dish is called cream sausage sauce, and in the pot there are soft boiled potatoes," Viljam explained his dish. Everyone took a serving of Viljam's self cooked dish on their plates. The sauce at least smelled good, so Yosuke and Yu had hope that this would be good.

"So...How do you eat this," Kanji then asked. "I mean, don't we need knifes to cut the potatoes," the punk asked. When Viljam asked Yukiko to set the table, the Finnish said that knives weren't needed.

"You do it like this," Viljam said and started mashing his potatoes with his fork. Then he mixed the mash into the sauce and took a forkful. Everyone followed the example.

Viljam wouldn't say this, but he was nervous. He was partly afraid that this dish wouldn't be good for Japanese taste, so he really hoped that he made the right choice.

"Hey! This is good," Kanji was the first to comment.

"Woah! he's right," Chie said after trying hers. " This is really good," the green clad girl commented, making Viljam feel happy.

"See girls, this is how you cook," Yosuke piped up, earning a glare from Chie, while Yukiko just ignored him and enjoyed Viljam's cooking.

Yu also nodded in approval. "Looks like Yosuke and I worried for nothing," the silverhaired boy said.

"Guys! You're making me blush," Viljam said, while blushing lightly.

"Not used to compliments," Yosuke decided to tease, which made Viljam stuff his mouth so he didn't have to answer. This earned a whack from Chie.

"Ignore Hanamura, for he doesn't know when to shut his faucet," Chie said, earning a giggle from Yukiko while Kanji looked confused.

"What faucet," Kanji decided to ask. Surprisingly it was Yu who decided to answer.

"Hana is apparently a Finnish word for faucet," Yu explained while smiling in amusement.

"Can we please forget that joke," Yosuke pleaded, getting tired of the joke already.

Kanji then had a lightbulb go off in his head. "So like, when Yosuke-senpai would get a flu, he would have a leaking faucet **(1)** ," Kanji then asked, giving everyone exclamation marks before they bursted into laughter.

"*Ehhehe* Why didn't I *Kihhhihih* think of that," Viljam said between laughs.

"*Ahhahahah* That's a good one *Ehheheh* Kanji-kun," Yukiko managed to say.

"That was awesome*ahhaha*," Chie laughed as well.

"Would you please not come up with anymore jokes on my name," Yosuke pleaded. "Can't you come up with jokes on other people's names," Yosuke then asked the Finnish boy, who momentarily stopped laughing to think.

"Hmmm...I can only think of something on Yu-san, but there hasn't been an appropriate situation to use it," Viljam said earning question marks from others.

"What kind of joke," Yukiko asked in excitement.

Viljam smiled mysteriously. "I'll tell you when the situation arises," the Finnish boy said, causing Yu to worry. Then a lightbulb went off in Viljam's head. "Yu-san, how's Nanako-chan doing," Viljam then asked.

"She's doing fine. Why do you ask," Yu answered with slight suspicion. Viljam sighed in disappointment on Yu not falling for the trap.

"No reason," Viljam said simply, before he decided to try another approach. "Does she have you wrapped around her little finger," Viljam then asked, causing alarm bells to ring in the silverhaired boy's head.

"No. Why would you think that," Yu asked anyway, falling into Viljam's trap.

"Because you're Narukami," Viljam said with a straight face, earning weird looks from others. "Naru is a Finnish word for string," Viljam then said. That sentence caused everyone to get a mental image of a string with Yu's features being wrapped around the little finger of Nanako, who was smiling happily. That image made everyone, but Yu, laugh.

"Now you*ahhaha* know how it feels," Yosuke mocked Yu. To his credit, Yu only had a mildly annoyed expression.

"Sorry*kihhih*," Viljam said through his laughter.

"Any other jokes that come to your mind," Yu asked sarcastically.

Viljam shook his head at that and returned his attention to the food. Everyone else did the same, though Yukiko still let out a giggle every few seconds.

After everyone finished eating, Viljam asked everyone to pile the used plates and he took them back to the kitchen where he would wash them later. Then he came back with a plate full of cookies. "Who want's dessert," Viljam asked everyone. Of course no one could resist cookies.

The cookies in question were coco cookies with a vanilla filling.

"These are good," Chie said. "Where did you get these," the green clad girl asked, after a third one.

"My sisters sent these to me," Viljam said, before plucking another cookie straight into his mouth.

"So these are from your home," Kanji asked in curiosity, to which Viljam nodded. Truthfully, Viljam was tempted to open another candy bag, but he decided to take a safer path and take the cookies he was sure no one could hate.

"Yeah," Viljam said happily.

"Your sisters sound like nice girls," Yosuke decided to pipe up, causing Viljam to laugh a little.

"Occasionally they drive me up a wall, but I still wouldn't trade them for anything," Viljam said, before having a thought. "Except maybe for having a little sister like Nanako-chan," Viljam said seriously.

"That's horrible," Yukiko said in disapproval, Chie nodded in agreement.

Yu had a disbelieving look. "Are you serious," the silverhaired boy asked. Earning a confused look from the Finnish.

"Of course not," Viljam said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This earned a sweatdrop from others. " _If you're joking, could you at least sound like it._ " Was the collective thought about the Finnish boy. "Although Linnea might have wanted a big sister who didn't threaten to put her in the oven," Viljam then added.

"WHAT!?" Everyone cried in unison.

"Maria used to threaten to put Linnea in the oven to keep her in line," Viljam said, thinking they didn't hear him.

"That's crazy," Chie shouted.

"Is Maria-san really that horrible," Yukiko asked in worry.

"Your sister sounds scary," Kanji said with a shiver, as he got a mental image of a big girl throwing a smaller crying girl into the oven and turning on the heat.

"I take back what I said," Yosuke added, now feeling pity for the Finnish. Yu just hoped that Viljam was joking.

"It's not like big sis actually put Linnea in. The closest was when she opened the oven and Linnea instantly apologized for a wrong she made," Viljam said with a chuckle. Though the context was a little unclear, the four second years had some suspicion on where Viljam's gory thoughts were coming from.

"Umm. Nousku," Yu said earning Viljam's attention. "Does Linnea-san have...gory things she does," the silverhaired boy asked with worry.

Viljam thought for a moment. "Not that I know," Viljam replied casually, causing Yu to sigh in relief of at least one of the Nousku siblings being sane. "Except when we were playing make believe about poisoning mom with a jelly made of insect blood," Viljam then said, making everyone present feel disturbed.

"You made your little sister play something like that," Chie asked, seriously creeped out, as she got a mental image about Viljam and his younger sister cooking a jelly made of insect blood with psychotic grins on their faces.

"It was Linnea's idea, though I found it very fun," Viljam said smiling at the memory. With that everyone got an image about Viljam and his sisters being psychotic killers. "Of course I was...five to six years old at the time," Viljam added, which didn't do anything to dissuade their worries. The Finnish boy then took a look at everyones faces. "Please don't tell me that I made a mistake with the food," Viljam asked in worry, thinking that they had upset stomachs or something. Some stomachs were upset, but not because of the food.

"No no. We're all okay," Yu quickly said. Everyone else nodded.

"Ummm. I need to go, there's some work in Junes I need to do," Yosuke said, before running off. Leaving the rest confused.

"Didn't Yosuke-senpai say, he had a day off," Kanji questioned. Everyone else, except Yukiko and Viljam, sweatdropped as they realized the Junes boy ran away.

"Maybe he was wrong," Viljam said, earning another sweatdrop from everyone, but Yukiko and Kanji.

Yukiko then had a scary thought about Viljam's previous question. "Nousku-kun, the cream sausage sauce doesn't have any insects in it, does it," Yukiko asked with worry, making Yu, Kanji and Chie feel like throwing up.

Viljam gave Yukiko a weird look." Who the heck is crazy enough to do that," Viljam asked in disbelief. This made everyone else sigh in relief, but they still felt a little queasy. Then Viljam put the pieces together. "Don't tell me that some childish game me and Linnea played made you guys sick," Viljam asked with a chuckle.

"You sounded too serious for it to sound like a game," Chie retorted.

"*snrk* You thought we were serious about poisoning mom," Viljam asked, while holding back a laugh. Before anyone could respond, Viljam bursted into a laughing fit. "*Ehhehe* You *kihhihih* thought we were *Ehheheh* serious," Viljam repeated through his laughs.

Now that everyone else thought of it, there were some stupid things each of them did or thought, when they were little. After everyone had their short flashback about various dumb things they did, they had different image of Viljam and his sisters.

Instead of a crazy big girl throwing a crying smaller girl into an oven, they now got an image of Viljam's big sister thinking, " _Works every time._ " whenever their little sister was put back in line with a simple mention of the oven. Maybe Maria even felt a little guilty about scaring her baby sister like that.

Instead of psychotic children cooking a deadly poison, they now thought of the brother and sister playing some silly make believe, like the Finnish boy just told them. They probably didn't even understand how gross the thing they were "making" sounded back then.

With those thoughts out of their way, the others felt a little stupid and ashamed for thinking that the Nousku siblings were born psychopaths.

Once Viljam finished laughing, he took a serious face. "I have to ask though: Are all Japanese so serious all the time," Viljam asked out of curiosity. The question made them feel really stupid now. Then again, Viljam doesn't really use a joking tone all that often.

"I don't know how to answer that," Yu was the first to say.

"You're right," Viljam sighed. "It's too generalizing question to answer," Viljam added.

Kanji then had a thoughtful look. "Say, ughh...Bilyam **(1)** -senpai," Kanji said, mispronouncing Viljam's name, but still earned Viljam's attention. "What are your sisters like," the punk asked.

"What do you mean," Viljam replied curiously.

"I mean...what do they look like," Kanji added with a slight blush for some reason, though Viljam didn't take note of this.

Viljam fished out his phone and pulled a certain picture out, before showing it to Kanji. In the picture was Viljam and his two sisters having a group hug, with Viljam in the middle. "The blonde one is Maria, my big sister," Viljam said while pointing at the blonde young woman who was hugging both Viljam and Linnea while smiling at the camera. "The other one is Linnea, my little sister," Viljam said while pointing at the girl with darker brown hair than Viljam. The youngest of the Nousku-siblings had Viljam and Maria in a hug, while giving a dazzling smile at the camera. Viljam himself had one arm wrapped around each of his sisters and had a wide happy smile.

"You guys look cute," Chie said, from behind the two boys. She and Yu had got up and moved to them so they could see too. Yukiko was also curious about the picture Viljam was showing.

Viljam blushed a little at the compliment. "Thanks," the Finnish said quietly. "This is one of the rare times we felt like doing a group hug, then dad decided to capture that moment," Viljam said with a smile. That also explained who took the picture.

Then Yu noticed something. "What's that," the silverhaired boy asked about three words that were above each of the siblings head.

Viljam pocketed the phone quickly. "Nothing you need to know," the Finnish said too quickly for Chie's liking.

"Something embarrassing," Chie asked with teasing look, which made Viljam blush in embarrassment. That reaction was all the confirmation Chie needed. "Now I'm even more curious," Chie said, while giving Viljam an inquisitive look.

"En sano mitään," Viljam said with conviction. Chie didn't need a translation to know what that meant.

"Oh. You're not getting out of this," Chie said while standing to her full height and looking down on still sitting Viljam.

The Finnish boy was terrified."Just nicknames that have been used of us in the family, nothing else," Viljam caved in, before running off.

"Stop right there," Chie shouted, before running after him.

As this happened Yu and Kanji sweatdropped, while Yukiko laughed at the situation.

Eventually, Yu told Chie not to force Viljam into telling, if he didn't want to. Then they all had to go their homes.

Viljam still had to have his weekly talk with his family, before he got to sleep.

 **(Yasogami High. June 20th. Early morning)**

Viljam just arrived to the class with Yukiko. The two had noticed on their way to school that the people were all buzzing about something, though Viljam wasn't sure what of. Something about an idol.

Yosuke noticed Viljam's and Yukiko's arrival. "Hey Nousku, did you hear!? Risette is coming to Inaba," Yosuke exclaimed in excitement.

"Who's Risette," Viljam asked confused, causing Yosuke to look at the Finnish like he was crazy.

"How can you not know," Yosuke asked in disbelief as Viljam took his seat. "She's all over the media," Yosuke then said, which made Viljam tilt his head.

"If it's Japanese media, then better question is: How _could_ I know," Viljam replied simply. With that, Yosuke looked at the Finnish with pity.

"Poor Nousku, born to a country that hasn't heard about Rise Kujikawa," Yosuke said, like he was talking to someone who was dying.

Now Viljam was even more confused. "I thought you were talking about Risette," Viljam said, causing Yosuke to facepalm, while Yu chuckled in his seat and Chie giggled, next to the silverhaired boy. Viljam didn't like the reactions. "What did I say," Viljam asked, getting worried about saying something really dumb.

Yu decided to explain. "Risette is a stage name, her real name is Rise Kujikawa," Yu explained in amusement, causing Viljam to have a look of realization. "Speaking of which, did you see the news about her going on hiatus," Yu then asked the Finnish boy, who shook his head. " _No wonder then_ ," Yu thought in amusement.

Just as Yu finished that thought Kanji stepped inside. "Yo," Kanji greeted them after reaching them.

"Hey there," Chie greeted cheerfully. "You've been coming to school a lot lately, what's up," Chie then asked. Kanji had been skipping school since new years, so it's a miracle that he decided to attend regularly.

"It's this annoying thing called the mandatory attendance policy," Kanji said in annoyance.

Yosuke then said something that he shouldn't have. "Seeing you here now, kind of reminds me of the school campout," Yosuke said, causing everyone else to sweatdrop.

"I thought we were going to forget about that," Kanji said, not wanting to remember the last moments in the river.

"I'm sorry," Viljam said, while looking down in shame.

"Why are you sorry," Chie asked in confusion. "You didn't do anything wrong," the girl said cheerfully, which made Viljam feel better.

Yosuke on the other hand knew exactly what the Finnish was referring to. "He fed us that black poison," Yosuke said, which earned a stomp on the foot from Chie.

"He didn't do it on purpose. Besides, you got to eat his cooking yesterday, so drop it," Chie said in annoyance.

"Dude! You heard what he and his sisters do," Yosuke said in disbelief. Chie was about to retort, before...

"Hey! Maria's reign of terror ended, when she didn't need to scare Linnea to behave. And Linnea and I only played a stupid game," Viljam jumped into his sisters' defense.

When Viljam put it that way, Yosuke started to feel bad. "Fine, I'm sorry," Yosuke said with a sigh, not wanting to argue anymore. "But can you please teach these two how to cook," Yosuke then asked Viljam, who got flustered.

"I-I-I'm not qualified to teach anyone," Viljam said while trying to make himself look smaller.

Before any further comments on that subject came out, Kanji decided to ask something, "You guys see the news?".

Chie was confused for an instant, before realizing what Kanji must be talking about. "Oh that news about Rise Kujikawa taking a break from showbiz," Chie voiced her thoughts. "I wonder why though. She was just getting popular lately," Chie said in wonder.

"Just goes to show that being an idol is tough work," Yosuke shrugged.

"Is Rise really that popular," Yu asked in curiosity.

Yosuke was surprised for the second time that day about hearing someone not knowing about Rise. "Are you kidding me!? She's all over the media," Yosuke exclaimed, before taking a calming breath. "Listen up: It hasn't been that long since her debut, but at this rate she'll be a top class idol in no time," Yosuke explained to the two ignorant ones. "To be honest, I'm a fan too! She's such a cutie pie," Yosuke fanboyed.

"A cutie pie? What are you 80," Chie said, causing Viljam to cover his mouth, though no one noticed. "But I think she used to live here, so she must have a lot of local fans," Chie then said. That explained all the fuzz Viljam had noticed. If a popular idol did come into town it, would cause a fuzz.

"The news said, she's going to her grandmother's tofu shop, right," Yukiko said, earning everyone's attention. "Do they mean Marukyu," Yukiko then asked.

"Marukyu," Yosuke questioned.

"Marukyu tofu. Our inn was serving their tofu until recently," Yukiko clarified.

Yosuke remembered the tofu shop in the shopping district. He passes by it all the time, which gave him an idea. "Are you saying that I could meet Rise if I go to her shop," Yosuke asked in excitement causing Viljam to sweatdrop.

"Maybe I should meet her too," Yu then said surprising everyone. "And I think you should too," the silverhaired boy said to Viljam, who tilted his head.

"Why?" Was all they got out of him.

"No reason," Yu said, while turning away from Viljam.

"Hey, aren't we getting a little sidetracked here," Chie then pointed out, earning everyone's attention. "Did you forget about the murders," Chie asked Yosuke in annoyance. "You're the one who said that the connection between the victims was the TV," the girl added.

Yosuke didn't take Chie's worries seriously. "Come on it's not like she appeared on the TV recently and how would she be connected to the incidents so far," Yosuke said, brushing off the worries.

Viljam looked annoyed at Yosuke. "I don't think that last one matters," Viljam pointed out. "If it did, the culprit wouldn't have bothered throwing me into the TV," The Finnish added. "After all I didn't see him, so he had no reason to think of me as a witness either," Viljam said causing everyone to stare at him. "What?"

"When did you reach that conclusion," Yu asked a little surprised.

Viljam tilted his head. "Few days after Kanji joined us," Viljam replied.

"And you didn't tell us before, why," Yosuke asked in suspicion.

"I forgot," Viljam said in embarrassment, causing Yukiko to giggle while others sweatdropped.

"Anyway," Yukiko changed the subject. "I did some research and turns out Rise has no personal connection to Yamano-san," the red clad girl said.

"She's been an idol for a while, but she became the talk of the town thanks to the news last night," Chie explained.

"And she is moving here," Yu added to Chie's statement. "With that logic, she does fit the pattern," Yu said after thinking for a moment. "So if our assumptions are correct, she will be the next target," Yu then said grimly.

"If she is, that would narrow down the killers methods further," Yosuke added in.

"What's that supposed to mean," Kanji asked, earning sweatdrops from others, while Yosuke face-palmed.

"Allow me to handle this," Viljam said, before getting up from his seat. "Kanji. If Rise is targeted next, that would prove once and for all that the targets don't have to be connected to the first case. And that means the targets so far have been shown on the TV recently," Viljam gave Kanji the summarization. Judging by the look of realization on Kanji's face, he understood.

"I could've done that," Yosuke said, feeling jealous for some reason.

"Yeah, but I wanted to be useful," Viljam said simply.

Yosuke decided to ignore the Finnish and focus on the important thing. "Anyway: Let's do this," the Junes boy said cheerfully.

"He's pumped up," Chie commented dryly.

 **(Amagi Inn. June 20th. After School)**

Viljam was a little nervous now. Why? Because he had guests in his room. This was something that he hasn't done many times back home. Not only that, but the thing that made Viljam more nervous was that...

"This room is messy," Yosuke said in amazement. Yes, Viljam isn't exactly a cleaner. Even at home, he had to be constantly told to clean up his room, but he never does. The difficulty is, that he has to decide what to do with everything that is scattered around his room. Viljam would've at least tried to clean his room, if he knew that Yosuke and Yu were coming, but they just practically barged in.

"Sorry," Viljam said in shame.

Yosuke chuckled at Viljam's ashamed demeanor. "Come on man, I'm not much better," Yosuke said in amusement.

"It is a little cramped," Yu said as he avoided stepping on a carelessly dropped shirt. The room wasn't actually all that messy on Viljam's standards, just several clothes he had forgotten to put in the laundry.

"I don't need a lot of space," Viljam commented as he made a mental note to put the scattered clothes in the laundry.

"I suppose I can understand that," Yosuke said, before getting a devious grin. "So..Have you thought about inviting Satonaka here," Yosuke couldn't help but tease. While Yosuke hasn't been too nosy about Viljam getting along with Chie, he just couldn't help but try to tease.

"She's already been here," Viljam said, which made Yosuke's jaw drop, while Yu had wide eyes. Then the silverhaired boy remembered the training incident back in May.

"You mean when she came here to apologize about crippling you," Yu asked, earning a nod of confirmation from Viljam.

Yosuke mouthed an O as he remembered hearing about Chie working Viljam to the point of immobility. He had also heard from Yu that she bought Viljam steak skewers as an apology. "So anyway: Where do you hide the goods," Yosuke asked.

Viljam's eyes widened in alarm."How do you know about that," The Finnish cried in alarm, which made Yosuke smirk and Yu to widen his eyes. Yosuke thought he just got some dirt on the Finnish boy, while Yu had a hard time believing Viljam was one of _those_ guys.

"It's alright man, were all guys here," Yosuke said reassuringly, but that didn't make Viljam feel anymore secure. "So. Do you hide them under the futon," Yosuke asked, which made Viljam relax.

"Who's dumb enough to do that," Viljam asked in disbelief, which made Yosuke frown a little.

"I do," Yosuke said in annoyance, before walking towards the futon Viljam had neatly folded out of the way. "Now let's see what we'll find here," Yosuke said with a smirk.

While this was happening Yu had turned Viljam around to face him. "Be honest with me, do you actually have any 'goods'," Yu asked, still having difficulty believing that Viljam was hiding magazines like that.

Actually, few days before the camping trip, Yosuke had visited Yu's room. Yosuke asked the same thing from the silverhaired boy, who took a moment to realize what his friend meant. Yosuke even checked under Yu's futon, but found nothing. Yosuke then went to check Yu's entire room to see where the "goods" were, while Yu watched in amusement, because he didn't own any. Now it looked like the Finnish had a dark side, which Yu wasn't sure how the girls would take, if they found out.

The Finnish had a fierce look. "I don't know how you two found out, but you'll never find my stash," Viljam said with conviction, which made Yu sigh in disappointment.

"What's in that box," Yosuke asked after spotting a cardboard box that was partly hidden under a small desk.

Viljam went pale as he realized that Yosuke had seen his secret stash. "Nothing you like," Viljam said quickly, but Yosuke could clearly see that the Finnish boy was trying to hide something.

"Looks like I found where you hide the goods," Yosuke snickered, making Viljam have a look of horror. "Now let's see what's inside the box," the Junes boy said, before moving to open the stash.

"NÄPPYLÄT IRTI!" Viljam cried before pouncing on Yosuke and dragging him away from the box.

"Oh come on! Don't be selfish," Yosuke protested, while struggling against Viljam.

"Considering how my sisters have no qualms about stealing from me, I'm entitled to be selfish of my goodies," Viljam countered

While this was happening Yu had sneaked towards the box that contained Viljam's "goodies". "I hope this isn't what I think it is," Yu mumbled to himself before opening the box. The silverhaired boy blinked at the sight of what was in the box, even as Viljam was wrestling Yosuke to keep the Junes boy away from his stash. Finally Yu took one of the "goodies" and turned towards Viljam, who somehow had gotten Yosuke flat on the floor, and was now sitting on him. "Nousku, is this what you were hiding," Yu asked, as he waved a candy bag in his hand for Viljam to see.

Before Yu could react, Viljam had snatched the bag from Yu, put it back into the box and situated himself on top of the lids. "My sweets," Viljam exclaimed, and Yu could swear the Finnish growled at him.

"Whoawhoawhoawhoa," Yosuke shouted as he got up off the floor. "Are you saying the goods you were hiding are just sweets," Yosuke asked in disbelief, earning a confused look from Viljam.

"What else could they be," Viljam asked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This action made Yosuke sweatdrop, while Yu face-palmed and shook his head.

"You're like Satonaka with meat," Yosuke commented idly. Then the Junes boy had a thought. "Speaking of which, would you have acted the same way if it was her checking the box," Yosuke asked.

Viljam opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Then it looked like he was thinking very hard. Yosuke tapped his foot on the floor, as Viljam struggled to answer. "...I don't know," Viljam said with an uncertain tone. This earned a devious smirk from Yosuke, while Yu looked weirdly at the Finnish boy, who moments ago protected his candy stash like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Yu however had another question. "You shouted that your sisters steal from you, what did you mean," the silverhaired boy asked, earning Viljam's attention.

The Finnish boy had a sad look on his face. "Because I remember too many incidents, where either Linnea or Maria take things from me with no regard to how I feel about it," Viljam said with a sigh. "For example, if I have a glass of soda next to me, Linnea drinks it all without so much as asking me," Viljam said with a sigh. "Not only that, but if I speak up, they only laugh at me," The Finnish continued with bitterness. "If these events weren't constant, I might be able to handle it. But with the way they keep doing it, I wonder too many times if they just don't care how I feel," Viljam finished with a sigh.

Yosuke and Yu were a little surprised at Viljam's words. The way the Finnish talks about his sisters most of the time, makes them sound like perfect siblings. Guess having siblings isn't all rainbows and sunshine. Not to mention Viljam's shadow did claim Viljam beneath his sisters.

"Where did that box come from," Yu asked out of nowhere. Viljam didn't answer and instead, clutched the box a little tighter. "Did your sisters send it to you," the silverhaired boy continued, causing Viljam to snap his head towards Yu.

"Yes," Viljam said simply, though he was still down from the bad memories this conversation brought back.

"Would they have sent it to you, if they didn't care about you," Yu asked, earning a very faint smile from Viljam.

"I guess not," Viljam said with a sigh.

Suddenly Viljam's hair was ruffled by Yosuke. "Come on man. Your sisters might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least they sent you a box full of sweets," Yosuke said jokingly, which made Viljam chuckle.

"You're right. Thanks guys," Viljam said much more cheerfully and got off the box. "These are for you," Viljam said, after fishing out two chocolate bars from the sweet stash. "Theyre a mixture of white and milk chocolate," Viljam explained as the two guys accepted the treats. "One of my favorite chocolates out there," Viljam said happily.

Considering how protective Viljam was about his sweets a moment ago, Yu and Yosuke considered this an ultimate show of trust. The two boys thanked Viljam and took a bite out of the bars. The combination of white and milk chocolate was pretty sweet, which is probably why Viljam likes them.

"Say," Yosuke suddenly piped up. "If you had to give up meat, or sweets, which would you give up," Yosuke asked out of curiosity.

"I can't choose," Viljam said easily. "On one hand I like a juicy piece of meat, on the other hand I also love sweets. Picking between the two is impossible," Viljam explained. "Why do you ask," Viljam then asked Yosuke, who just smiled knowingly.

 **(Inaba. June 20th. Sometime later)**

Yosuke and Yu had left the Amagi Inn after talking about this and that. "Yosuke I have to ask. What were you doing," Yu asked the question that had been nagging him.

"What do you mean partner," Yosuke asked with an innocent look.

Yu had a stern look. "The things you asked. It was almost like you were asking, if Nousku likes Satonaka-san," the silverhaired boy said. During their conversations some of Yosuke's questions either involved Chie or they could be traced to her. "Why do you care if he does," Yu then asked.

Yosuke just smiled in amusement. "Truth is, I don't really care if he does date Satonaka," Yosuke explained. "But if he does, then I'll get to tease Satonaka about it," Yosuke snickered.

"That sounds childish," Yu said in disapproval. "Though I have to admit, she does seem to get along with him," Yu then said. "But I don't think they'll hook up anytime soon if ever," the silverhaired boy then said. From what Yu has gathered about Chie and Viljam, both were uncomfortable about the matters of dating.

"You're right. Still I feel sorry for Nousku if he does hook up with Satonaka," Yosuke then said, earning a questioning look from Yu. "Because I get the feeling that she will be wearing the pants in their relationship," the Junes boy joked. Yu couldn't help but laugh at the metaphor.

"Let's just wait and see," Yu said, before the two went their separate ways.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **And now people see another side of Viljam. His love for sweets.**

 **If you're interested in how Kanji mispronounced Viljam's name as Bilyam. Well Japanese don't have a spelling for "v" so they use "b" sound to compensate. Of course those who have studied English can speak the letter "v" properly. Also on another note, from English viewpoint letter "j" is spelled as "y" in Finland. I cannot explain how to spell "y" in Finnish with writing.**

 **Joke breakdown:**

 **1\. Yosuke Hanamura~Hana=flower or nose(Japanese). Hana=faucet(Finnish)~Dripping nose=leaky faucet**

 **Fun fact of the day: Aside from "j" and "y" Japanese spelling is almost the same as Finnish.**

 **Translations:**

Okkei, hyvän näköisiä= **Okay, they look good**

Kypsiä ovat= **They're cooked**

Valmis= **Ready**

En sano mitään= **I won't say anything**

NÄPPYLÄT IRTI!= **PIMPLES OFF(a proper phrase in Finnish would be "näpit irti" which literally means, "fingertips off". I just came up with this variation when I was bored.)**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 **Author's notes:**

 **I'm back people. Xenoblade Chronicles X is so awesome. I have already finished the story, but am I completely done with the game? Not by a long shot.**

 **Also I had time to brainstorm an idea for Persona 4: Dancing all night fic, but I don't think I'm going to go through with it just yet.**

 **Anyway: I hope you enjoy the story and as usual translations will be at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Aiya's diner. June 21st. After School)**

It was a rainy day today, which meant that Aiya's Mega Beefbowl Challenge would be available today. That's why Chie had invited Viljam to join her. The Finnish boy said no at first, because the Amagi Inn had a busy day today. However, Yukiko practically forced Viljam to go with Chie.

So here the two were, stuffing their faces in an attempt to conquer this challenge.

Chie wasn't sure how long she had been trying to force more meat down the hatch, even though she was already full. The green clad girl took a look at Viljam, and saw that he had given up.

"I never thought I would find a meatdish that could best me," Viljam chuckled. Indeed he had once again finished at the rice, or actually, he still had few scraps of meat in the bowl. "Guess the last time was a fluke," Viljam said, while leaning back in his chair. "Oh well, just another chunk out of my wallet," The Finnish boy added at the inevitable payment for not completing this.

"Well, it is a big bowl, but we can always try again," Chie said cheerfully, causing Viljam to look at her questioningly.

"We?"

Chie almost looked disappointed at the question. "Well, I mean you're not going to give up right," Chie asked the Finnish boy.

Viljam seriously considered the notion, before answering. "On one hand beating this has no real price to it, but on the other hand, my pride as a carnivore is on the line here," the Finnish boy said with a chuckle, to which Chie joined in. The two paid their unfinished meals, but they decided to stay put, until they felt a little less like bursting.

"Do you think Rise's the next target," Chie decided to ask after confirming that no one could hear them.

"If she is, then I hope we can catch the culprit this time," Viljam said, without a hint of worry.

"Yeah, then I'm going to kick his ass," Chie said with confidence, which made Viljam smile.

"That depends on what we see on the Midnight Channel," Viljam pointed out. "Speaking of which, what do you think we're going to see," The Finnish boy continued. "If Rise gets thrown in I mean," Viljam clarified, which earned a look from Chie.

"Nousku-kun," Chie said in a tone that made Viljam feel threatened. "We are trying to prevent that," Chie said, shouting the word 'prevent'.

"Sorry," Viljam said in shame. "It's just, what if we can't prevent it, and I stress the word 'if', what would we see," Viljam said nervously. "Besides, even if we can't stop Rise from being put in, then we just save her," the Finnish added the last part with confidence that made Chie calm down ever so slightly.

"I'm not sure if I should scold you or kick you for being so calm about a person being in danger," Chie said still a little miffed at Viljam sounding so nonchalant about another person being in danger.

"I guess it just hasn't struck to me that what we're doing is dangerous. Kind of weird considering what I have already gone through," Viljam sighed.

Chie had a worried look as she remembered how Viljam was knocked out in one shot. "You mean when that shadow knocked you out." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Yeah. If you guys hadn't been there I wouldn't be sitting here now," Viljam said, then shuddered. "Geez, when I say it like that I feel scared," the Finnish boy added while rubbing his arms.

"Don't worry I'll protect you," Chie said without thinking. "And Yukiko," Chie quickly added." I mean you're already guarding each others backs, but I still want to protect her," Chie tried to cover up her slip, which made Viljam smile for some reason. "What," Chie demanded.

Viljam's smile widened. "Your face is red," The Finnish stated. Now Chie felt embarrassed, which made her cheeks even redder. "Still, I appreciate it. Yukiko told me about how reliable you are and I can see that she wasn't exaggerating," Viljam then said.

Chie felt flattered at being called reliable, but then she caught onto a certain part of Viljam's sentence. "When did you start dropping honorifics around Yukiko," the girl asked with slight suspicion.

"Yesterday evening, when she said that I can," Viljam said simply. "Though I wanted her to call me by my first name in return. Sadly she couldn't do it without blushing, and I don't understand why," the Finnish added which made Chie giggle. "What?".

"Oh nothing," Chie said with a smile. "I think I should go home now," Chie said before getting up.

After exchanging farewells Viljam and Chie returned to their homes.

 **(Amagi Inn. June 21st. Evening)**

It was close to midnight and the rain was still pouring outside. Viljam was prepared to watch the Midnight Channel. "Jospa en näkisi mitään," Viljam muttered. He knew that the channel would most likely show someone again, but he still dared to hope that nothing would show up. Despite his words to Chie, Viljam was a little afraid of what they would see next, should Rise be thrown in.

Any further thought was cut off when the TV came on. Viljam wasn't sure if the girl was Rise Kujikawa since he hasn't seen her. He needs to open his laptop after the show. "Onko nuo bikinit," Viljam thought aloud as he squinted at the screen. Sure enough the girl on the screen was wearing a swimsuit. Also the camera kept zooming in on her chest and thighs, which made identifying the face harder than it already was. Then again, even if the picture was clear, Viljam doesn't know what Rise looks like.

After the screen turned black again, Viljam decided to check something on his laptop. After booting the laptop the Finnish quickly typed the search word "Rise Kujikawa". Several pictures and articles were revealed, naturally they were in Japanese, but that wasn't an issue for Viljam. After checking several pictures and a website made by a fan, Viljam knew who Rise was and sure enough, she looked like the girl on the Midnight Channel.

But that wasn't all, Viljam was pretty sure he had seen the girl somewhere, but wasn't sure where. After few minutes of fruitless thinking Viljam chalked the feeling up on seeing one of her posters in passing. With those thoughts Viljam shut down his laptop and went to sleep.

 **(Dojima household. June 21st. Roughly the same time)**

Yu was in the middle of a phone conversation from Yosuke, who called right after the screen went black again.

" _Anyway, let's talk about this with everyone tomorrow,_ " Yosuke said from the phone before hanging up.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Yu thought aloud. The fact that the camera zoomed in on the girls chest and thighs gave some weird implications. Almost made him wonder what the TV will show if they fail to stop the culprit. Yu shook his head at that. They have to succeed this time, because last time with Kanji, they were nearly wiped out.

" _I wonder if Nousku remembered yet_ ," Yu thought. After all, he and Yu had already met Rise briefly, but Yu didn't know who the girl was until he saw the news. Now however was time to sleep and tomorrow they would hatch a plan.

 **(Yasogami High. June 22nd. After School)**

The team had gathered in their now nearly empty class to discuss the events of last night.

"I'm telling you that was Rise," Yosuke said with excitement.

"And how are you so sure? She seemed different," Chie asked the Junes boy.

Yosuke looked at Chie like she was being weird. "Of course I am. That chest! Those hips! And her beautiful thin legs," Yosuke gushed, which made Viljam roll his eyes. After Yosuke mentioned the legs, he started to look at Chie's legs, making the girl very uncomfortable.

"What are you looking at me for," Chie complained as she vainly covered as much of her legs as she could.

"Koska se on törppö," Viljam mumbled under his breath.

"What do you think, Narukami-kun," Yukiko asked Yu, who took a quick glance at Chie's legs.

"Her legs are fine," Yu said simply surprising Chie and Yosuke.

"What!? I disagree," Yosuke exclaimed, earning a tick mark from Chie. Followed by a kick in the stomach.

"*snrk*And then it wonders why Chie-san kicks him*kihihhii*," Viljam said with a laugh.

"*snrk* 'It' *ahahahah*," Yukiko joined into the laughing, while Yu and Chie were looking on. Yu was once again disturbed by how similar these two can be sometimes, while Chie felt mildly annoyed.

Yosuke slowly got back up before glaring at Viljam. "Well, why don't you tell us what you think of Satonaka's legs," Yosuke countered, thinking that Viljam would do something to earn a kick from Chie.

Viljam's laughter immediately ceased, and then he started to look a little uncomfortable. The team was waiting with baited breath for Viljam's answer, but the Finnish only looked more uncomfortable with every passing second. "I'm sorry, but you're asking the wrong guy," Viljam finally said, surprising everyone. Out of all the answers they thought they would hear, this was none of them.

"What's that supposed to mean," Chie asked a little angry about why VIljam wouldn't give a proper answer.

Viljam gulped. "It means that...that...I can't form an opinion," Viljam said like he was ashamed.

"You can't form an opinion," Yu questioned.

"Umm...I don't know why, but when asked of opinions on some things nothing comes to mind," Viljam said carefully.

Yosuke looked at Viljam weirdly." Nousku, listen to me long thin legs are one of the most attractive things in a woman," the Junes boy lectured the Finnish, earning sweatdrops from others.

"Why?" was the only answer the Junes boy got. Yosuke was about answer, until he realised that he didn't have an answer to that. Or he did, but nothing he wanted say around the girls.

"Maybe Viljam-senpai isn't into legs," Kanji, who has been present the whole time, said. This caused Yosuke to slump in defeat, as he realized that someone like that couldn't possibly understand even if he could give the proper lecture.

Yu then decided to ask Viljam something out of curiosity. "Can you see anything wrong with Satonaka-san's legs," the silver haired boy asked the Finnish.

Viljam took a quick look at Chie's legs before answering. "No." was the simple answer. Chie was almost disappointed that she didn't get to hear a compliment, but at least there was nothing wrong. Besides, two out of four guys say there's nothing wrong, so that counts to something.

"Are we even taking this seriously," Kanji then asked about the sidetrack this conversation took.

"Yeah we are," Yu said simply, though Kanji wasn't entirely convinced.

"Shouldn't we check the tofu shop then," Kanji then asked.

"Yukiko and I have to visit the faculty office, so we'll catch you later," Chie said. "But please keep Hanamura in line," the girl added to which three of the four guys nodded.

 **(Shopping district. June 22nd. Few minutes later)**

"Now remember guys, this is strictly for investigation. We're not here just to see Risette in flesh," Yosuke said seriously as they walked towards Marukyu tofu shop.

"Speak for yourself," Kanji scoffed, to which Viljam nodded in agreement. Soon the four guys had arrived to the shop. The shop had a large crowd in front of it.

"Should've seen this coming," Viljam said in exasperation at seeing all those people in front of the shop.

"True," Yu sighed. Of course there would be a crowd who wanted to see if an idol was really here.

"Should we wait until there are less people," Viljam asked.

Before anyone could respond to that they heard someone speaking. "There's only an old lady there. No sign of Risette," said a young man.

"Guess it was just a rumor. Oh well, what can you do," said an older man said with slight disappointment. With that the crowd started to thin out.

"A RUMOR!" Yosuke screamed startling Viljam. "Seriously!? She's not even here!?" Yosuke cried.

Kanji smirked at Yosuke's behavior." You sound like the world's about to end," Kanji said, clearly amused.

"Shut up," Yosuke yelled, causing Viljam to laugh. "And what are you laughing at," Yosuke demanded the laughing Finnish in annoyance.

"That was *ehheheh* textbook comedy*kihhihih*," Viljam managed to say between laughs.

"He's easily amused," Yu deadpanned at the Finnish boy's behavior. "Anyway, we should still see for ourselves, she could be in the back or something," Yu then decided to point out.

This gave Yosuke some hope. " Yeah, and I guess I could buy something even if she isn't here," Yosuke agreed.

"I recommend ganmodoki, since you can't eat tofu," Yu said surprising Yosuke.

"How did you know I can't eat tofu," Yosuke questioned.

"You mentioned it yourself the other day," Yu replied, which made Yosuke mouth an 'oh' as he remembered mentioning it.

During this exchange Viljam had calmed down. "What's ganmodoki," the Finnish asked.

It was Kanji who decided to answer, "They're sorta...fried tofu patties with veggies and stuff mixed in and...," Kanji explained the basics of ganmodoki.

"In other words, something I won't eat," Viljam sighed in disappointment.

"You don't like vegetables," Yu asked, to which Viljam shook his head in confirmation. "Vegetables are good for your health," Yu said, earning a snicker from Yosuke and a glare from Viljam.

"Veggies are evil," Viljam retorted, earning weird looks from the other three.

"Let's just get in," Yosuke said, not wanting to question the Finnish boy's logic. The answer might be something crazy, like vegetables planning to take over the world or something.

 **(Inside Marukyu)**

After entering the shop, Yosuke looked around and only saw one person near the sink further back. "Sure enough, the only one here is your typical old lady," Yosuke said with a sigh.

Viljam had a frown on his face. "Is your eyesight bad or are you just stupid," the Finnish boy asked the Junes boy.

This earned a glare from the said Junes boy. "What are you talking about. I that's clearly an old lady," Yosuke complained.

Kanji just about had it with Yosuke and his nonsense. "Man, why don't you just ask if she's in the back, like Yu-senpai said," the punk nearly shouted. " 'Scuse me," Kanji called towards the person at the sink.

The person turned towards the guys, revealing herself to be a girl about their age. "What," the girl asked. Yosuke and Kanji were surprised.

"And that's what I was talking about," Viljam told Yosuke, who was still in the middle of processing the fact that the girl before them was none other than Rise Kujikawa.

"Uhh... Are you Rise," Kanji decided to ask.

"No honorifics," Rise sighed, before her eyes fell on Yu and Viljam. "Oh it's you two again," Rise exclaimed, surprising Yosuke and Kanji.

"Hello again," Yu said simply, while Viljam looked confused, before he remembered.

"Ahh. You're that girl, who thought she was being stalked by Yu," Viljam exclaimed in recognition.

"EHHH!?" Yosuke and Kanji exclaimed in unison, before they turned a disbelieving look at Yu who was covering his face with his hand.

"I just returned her phone," Yu said with a sigh, to which Rise giggled.

"Well she didn't know that until you chased her into the elevator," Viljam retorted in amusement.

"Hey! Would someone tell me what's going on," Yosuke cried, not willing to believe that the two ignorant ones had already met Risette.

Reluctantly, Yu gave a brief summarization about how Rise forgot her phone in the Junes food court. Then Yu tried to return it, but Rise thought she was being stalked. It wasn't until Rise was trapped in the elevator, that Yu was able to hand the phone over.

"Did that cover everything," Yu asked with a sigh.

"Yes, except, how does Nousku fit in this," Yosuke asked while pointing at the Finnish boy.

"I just finished grocery shopping and was coming down in the elevator, when Rise-san came in, followed by Yu-san," Viljam explained his part. Now Yosuke understood, it was just pure luck that these two met Rise. That doesn't mean he wasn't annoyed at the unfairness.

"No fair," Yosuke complained.

"Didn't you come here to buy tofu," Rise asked the Junes boy with slightly annoyed tone.

Yosuke forgot his gripe and went to business. "Of course I did. Uhh. Which one was which again," Yosuke wondered making the other three sweatdrop.

"Wasn't it ganmodoki," Viljam said, before checking different tofu's the shop had to offer.

"Oh yeah that's it! Three ganmodoki, please," Yosuke exclaimed.

"I see. I'll go get them," Rise said, before she moved to pick Youske's order.

While Rise was picking the order, Yosuke was still happy about meeting his favorite idol. "Wow it really is Risette. Mission comple-OW!" Yosuke's cheering was cut off by a smack upside his head, courtesy of Viljam. "What was that for," Yosuke complained. The only answer Viljam gave him was a look that said "really?".

Yu on the other hand still remembered and decided to ask. "Kujikawa-san, have you noticed anything strange lately," Yu asked the girl, who had a question mark at the question.

"Weird? Like stalkers," Rise wondered. Then she got suspicious," Are you guys fans of mine.".

"I wouldn't say 'we', but yeah, dude here is a big fan," Kanji piped up, while pointing at Yosuke. Viljam also nodded in confirmation.

Yosuke wasn't happy about this. "Why'd you let that slip," Yosuke complained.

Viljam couldn't help but grin at the misery Yosuke was about to face, before Kanji said his next piece. " 'That chest, those hips, and her beautiful thin legs'...Ya finished checking them out or what," Kanji repeated Yosuke's words from the classroom, which made Viljam burst into laughter.

"I never said that! I never said any of that," Yosuke cried in panic.

Yu decided to ignore Yosuke's plight, and Viljam's laughing, and get straight to the point. "You may have heard already, but it's been dangerous here lately," Yu said.

"You mean the murders? Yeah I know about them," Rise said, though she didn't sound worried, just tired.

"Do you know about a show that appears on midnight. It's not a regularly aired show," Yu then asked Rise, who had a questioning look.

"You mean the program that was on last night? The Midnight Channel," Rise said earning Yosuke's and Kanji's attention. Even Viljam was able to calm down faster than usual.

"You know about that already," Yosuke asked surprised, then he realized how Rise worded it. "Wait! You mean you saw it last night," the Junes boy exclaimed.

"I heard about it, from some friends of mine," Rise explained. "But the girl that was on last night wasn't me. I've never been filmed wearing that swimsuit before, " The girl continued as she put Yosuke's order in a small bag. "And the bustline...," Rise trailed off, earning a curios look from Yosuke. "Mine aren't that big," Rise said.

At that revelation Yosuke squinted at Rise's chest. "Now that you mention it-OW!" Yosuke's musing was cut off by being smacked upside the head by Viljam again. Yosuke glared at the Finnish boy, while nursing the back of his head. "What did I do this time," Yosuke whined angrily.

"If you can't figure it out yourself, then why should I bother telling you," Viljam replied, while crossing his arms.

"You guys are funny," Rise said with a giggle, earning the two's attention.

"Thank you," Viljam said with a smile, while Yosuke was just happy to see Rise actually smile.

"Anyway what is that show about," Rise then asked.

"We believe that the people who appear on the show are the ones who get kidnapped next," Yosuke explained, earning question and exclamation marks from Rise.

"I know this is sudden, but we're not lying," Kanji pitched in.

Rise had a thoughtful look. "So it wasn't a dream," the former idol mused to herself. "Thanks I'll be careful," Rise then said as she finished packing Yosuke's order. "Here you go. That'll be 600 yen. I also packed some extra tofu for everyone for worrying about me," Rise said.

Yosuke was surprised at the generosity. "Wow seriously? Thanks," the Junes boy said before paying.

"Yosuke-senpai, you can't eat tofu, so want me to take yours," Kanji asked.

"Hell no! I always eat what people give me," Yosuke retorted, earning a chuckle from Viljam.

After receiving a pointed look from the Junes boy, Viljam stared back. "You don't want to know what that made me think," Viljam said in amusement. As much as Yosuke wanted to find out what that meant, he decided it would be better to not question.

On their way out, Yu and company met Dojima and Adachi. Yu's uncle was a little suspicious of why they were there, but Yu merely answered that they came to see Rise. The detective seemed skeptical, but he didn't question them any further. After all, it wouldn't be strange for high school boys to want to see an idol.

 **(Inaba. June 22nd. some time later)**

Dojima was suspicious. He came all this way to warn the Kujikawa girl about the homocides that happened lately, only to hear that his nephew and his friends had beaten him to it.

"How could high school kids, who know less than we do, beat us to the punch. We're they just making up an excuse to talk to a famous celebrity," the hardboiled detective of Inaba wondered aloud.

"Sir?" Adachi questioned.

"Yasogami High," the older detective then thought. "The second victim, Saki Konishi, and the three other students who went missing for a while," The detective then wondered.

"Is that more of your detectives intuition again," Adachi asked his senior. "Well the investigation of the people involved with the school hasn't turned up anything either," the younger detective then said. "Speaking of which, aren't we going to be in trouble if this keeps up? The prefectural police will be coming soon to-," Adachi's complaint was cut off by Dojima.

"They're the least of your worries! Keep your head in the game," Dojima said angrily, straightening Adachi's priorities.

 **(Dojima residence. June 22nd. Evening)**

Dojima, Yu and Nanako were currently eating dinner together, which consisted of tofu. While Yosuke wasn't willing to give up his share of extra tofu, Viljam was more than happy to do that. The Finnish boy claimed to have tasted tofu back in Finland and it felt like eating rubber to him. Yu was more willing to believe that the Finnish don't know how to make tofu. At least the tofu from Marukyu was good.

Soon enough Dojima decided to ask something that was on his mind. "You visited Rise Kujikawa today. What did you talk about," Dojima asked his nephew.

Yu felt that this would be coming and had already decided what his answer would be. "Just some idle gossip," Yu replied. He wasn't comfortable about lying to his uncle, but he knew that he would get in trouble if he told the truth. At least when he told earlier that they went to the shop to see Rise wasn't even a lie.

"I see," Dojima sighed. Yu had the impression that the detective didn't believe him, but he didn't know what to say. "Forget it, I shouldn't have brought it up," Dojima then said.

"You guys met Rise-chan!?" Nanako exclaimed in a mixture of shock and wonder.

"Yes," Yu told his cousin.

"Yeah," Dojima sighed.

Nanako looked between Yu and Dojima."Are you two fighting again," the little girl asked as she could feel the tention between them.

"Of course not," Dojima said reassuringly. That however, didn't dissolve the tense atmosphere for the duration of the dinner.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Yu was now in his room waiting for the Midnight Channel to come on again. Part of him hoped that the girl wouldn't be Rise after all. But then again, that would mean they would have to look for the victim, so hopefully they won't have to do that. Though he did wonder how Yosuke would react if the image was clearer this time and Rise would be in swimsuit again.

For some reason that reminded Yu of when Viljam explained his smacks to Yosuke. It was because Chie told them to keep him in line. Why with smacks? Because the Finnish didn't feel comfortable about "ending the Hanamura line". Didn't take them long to figure out it meant Chie's kicks to Yosuke's groin. Thankfully for Yosuke, those are rarer than one would think.

Those thoughts were cut, when the Midnight Channel came on. The image was much clearer, which made identifying the face easier. It was definitely Rise, but the camera still kept zooming in on her chest and hip area. That and the few times Yu saw her face, she seemed...creepy in some way.

Just as Yu considered calling Yosuke, his phone rang and sure enough it was Yosuke.

"Halloo, Yosuke," Yu said.

" _Huh?_ ," Came from the other end of the line.

"It's how a Finnish answers a phone," Yu explained.

" _Really, man? We're not in Finland in case you didn't know,_ " Yosuke deadpanned.

"Sorry, I had to try it," Yu said sheepishly.

" _Anyway, that was definitely Rise Kujikawa,_ " Yosuke changed the subject. " _But didn't she seem creepier in some way,_ " Yosuke pointed out the same thing Yu noticed.

"I thought so too. Let's gather tomorrow and talk about this," Yu told Yosuke.

" _Yeah, and I have a few things to say to Satonaka,_ " Yosuke said, before hanging up.

Yu was slightly amused at this. Yosuke sounded to be still miffed at Viljam taking Chie's instructions to the letter. "I hope this doesn't escalate," Yu thought aloud before going to bed.

 **(Junes Food Court. June 23rd. After school)**

The gang had gathered into the food court and were discussing about what they saw on the Midnight Channel. Though on the way, Yosuke had a little talk with Chie about ordering Viljam to smack him. When Chie asked Viljam what Yosuke did to deserve it, the Finnish told the truth. Which to Chie sounded like Yosuke deserved it. This would've escalated into a fierce argument between Chie and Yosuke, if Viljam hadn't apologized about hitting Yosuke. The Finnish boy didn't want them to fight about something he did, so he thought he should , Yosuke accepted, though Chie thought Viljam shouldn't have apologized.

Anyway, now the gang had sat down to talk about last night's Midnight Channel.

"So the Midnight Channel star last night was definitely Rise Kujikawa," Yosuke opened the conversation.

"So now we know that the ones targeted are shown on TV," Yukiko confirmed their previous theory.

"Exactly! Now we can finally rule out the assumption that the victims are connected to Yamano-san," Yosuke said. "Which also means that the culprit got lucky to get Nousku and Amagi at the same time," Yosuke added in which made Viljam start thinking about something. "I checked the shop this morning and Rise was still there. So we can safely assume that she is safe for now," Yosuke then said, which made Viljam think more deeply.

Yu decided to pick up the conversation. "We know that the low budget TV show only comes on when the victim is thrown inside the TV. So until we see something like that, we know Rise is safe," Yu then said.

Finally Viljam had a look of realization about something. "Umm, guys," the Finnish boy said, earning everyone's attention. "Teddie told us that the areas we've seen on TV are created by the people who enter it, right," Viljam asked.

"Yes. And the person that then appears on the TV is the person's other self," Yukiko decided to answer. "Why do you ask?".

"Because, now I wonder why the area Yukiko and I were thrown in was a castle," Viljam said, earning question marks from others.

"What do you mean," Chie asked. "It's because of Yukiko's hunt for her prince charming," Chie said, which made Yukiko flinch.

Viljam had a frown. "Yes we know what Yukiko's side is, but what about me," Viljam retorted. This earned a questioning look from others, until Yu came to realization.

"If Amagi-san and Nousku were thrown in the same area, shouldn't the area have been formed from both of their thoughts," Yu pointed out. Now everyone else realized it too. Since Viljam and Yukiko were thrown at the same time, the area should've been at least a mixture of Yukiko's and Viljam's thougts.

"That...is a good question," Yosuke said, now wondering himself how Yukiko got to hog all of the area.

"Maybe Yukiko didn't want to share," Viljam thought aloud, earning sweatdrop from others. "Or maybe our shadows had some kind of agreement," Viljam then said.

Everyone had a dumbfounded look on their faces. "That actually makes sense," Yosuke said. "I mean Yukiko's and Nousku's shadow seemed to talk together like they had rehearsed it," Yosuke added. Only Kanji looked confused, because no one told him about that incident.

"So many things we don't know," Yu sighed. "Like why the victim appears on the TV, before they are thrown in," the silverhaired boy added, which earned more question marks.

"Maybe it's like a ransom note," Yukiko theorized.

"To whom? And why," Chie questioned it.

"Maybe we see who the culprit wants to attack next," Yosuke added in his theory.

"Like they were announcing, 'Stop me, if you can'," Viljam added to Yosuke's theory.

"So the asshole's taunting us," Kanji finally spoke up.

"If he is, then he's got some nerve," Chie said in anger.

"I don't think it's that simple," Yu said. "I mean, no one knew about the killer until Yamano-san. Not to mention that would imply that the culprit himself created the Midnight Channel," Yu then said. Everyone agreed to that, after all some supernatural phenomenon created by someone just for the heck of it sounded a little farfetched.

Yosuke then had another thought. "That also doesn't explain the world inside the TV," Yosuke sighed. "The way things are formed out of people's thoughts in there makes me think that it's some kind of mixture of culprit's and the victims minds. Or maybe everyone's," Yosuke theorized.

"That sounds more believeable," Yu agreed.

Viljam took a deep breath. "So many questions, so few answers," Viljam sighed, which was followed by everyone else.

"And why would anyone even throw people in a place like that," Yukiko wondered.

"Probably, because the police won't be able to prove the crime," Yosuke said.

"If were talking about grudges then I got a shit ton of people hating me," Kanji informed everyone. "Yukiko-senpai, you know anyone who'd hate you so much they'd want to kill you," Kanji then asked Yukiko.

"No," Yukiko said quickly and without hesitation, earning a sweatdrop from all but VIljam.

Chie wasn't convinced. "Uhh. Yukiko, it could be that you don't know who-". "No," Yukiko interrupted Chie, causing everyone to sweatdrop further.

"What about you Nousku-kun, is there anyone who would want to kill you," Chie shifted her attention to the Finnish boy.

"There's only one person that I can think of, but they're back in Finland," Viljam said, earning surprised looks from others at the Finnish having someone that hates him. Still, this meant that other than the TV, there were no common points between the victims.

Yu then cleared his throat to earn everyone's attention again. "Anyway, what matters is that Rise might be targeted next, " Yu said, to which everyone nodded. "I think we need to watch the shop, in the hopes we catch the culprit this time," Yu said.

Chie perked up at the implication. "We get to do another stake-out," the kung-fu loving girl exclaimed.

"Hell yeah," Yosuke chimed in. "And this time, we will catch the culprit," the Junes boy said with enthusiasm. With that everyone had agreed to stake out the tofu shop today.

 **(In front of Marukyu. June 23rd. Some time later)**

The gang had been watching the shop for some time now. Chie and Yukiko were right next to the shop talking. The plan was simple, act like you were normal students doing their own thing.

Viljam was across the street, sitting on a bench. The Finnish looked like he was asleep, but was actually just relaxing.

Then the other three guys walked past the shop for the umpteenth time. Kanji stopped in the middle.

"Don't stop, the culprit might get suspicious," Yosuke hissed at the punk.

"But we've walked past here like a thousand times already," Kanji complained.

Yu had to agree with that, they had already gone past this shop for who knows how many times. Also there was a possibility that the culprit won't show today, but he wasn't willing to take chances.

Then from inside the shop, Adachi came out. The younger detective saw the kids doing their stake out earlier, and decided to tag along. "Come on out you bastard. We're ready for ya," Adachi said with anticipation, which made the guys sweatdrop.

Then Yukiko looked up and noticed something weird. "Look," Yukiko shouted, which caused everyone to look where she was looking at, including Viljam who opened his eyes.

A suspicious looking guy was climbing the telephone pole, but as soon as he realized he was spotted, he slid down and made a run for it. Everyone gave chase.

"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU BASTARD!" Kanji shouted after the guy.

The chase led everyone all the way to currently very active drive way. "Don't come near me," the suspicious guy shouted as he stopped at the edge of walkway.

"Like hell we are," Yosuke shouted, which made the guy take a step back.

"I'll do it, you know! What'll you do if I get run over," the suspicious guy threatened, everyone got exclamation marks at that. Especially Adachi.

"N-no! If the suspect gets injured, the police will be held responsible and...," Adachi exclaimed, before he realized what he just blurted out. Worse yet, their suspect heard it.

The guy took another step back. "I'll do it I swear! S-so get outta here and stop chasing me," the guy yelled in panic.

"What're we gonna do," Yosuke whispered at Yu. The silverhaired boy had no idea what to do this time.

Viljam tapped Yosuke's back. "The moment he turns his back, get him," the Finnish boy whispered to the two. They weren't sure if Viljam actually had a plan, or if he was just saying random stuff.

The Finnish boy stepped forward, earning their suspects attention. "Stay back!" the guy shouted. Viljam did stop, then he moved a little like he was looking behind the guy. "Look! Risette's taking off her top," Viljam shouted suddenly with wide eyes for effect. The others would've yelled at Viljam, if their suspect hadn't bought the trick and turned around.

"Get him," Yosuke shouted as he saw their chance. With that Yosuke, Yu and Kanji pounced on the guy and pinned him down.

"How dare you assault an ordinary citizen-"their suspect whined as he vainly struggled, before Kanji interrupted him.

"Shut the hell up murderer," the punk shouted.

"What!?" their suspect shouted in confusion. "I'm just an oridnary Risette fan," the guy said in fright.

"Shut it!" Adachi shouted as he cuffed the guy. "We can listen to your story back at the station," the younger detective said seriously. "Ooh! I've always wanted to use that line," Adachi then said happily, earning a sweatdrop from others. With that Adachi dragged the suspicious guy away, who was protesting all the way.

"Is it over," Yosuke said, still in slight disbelief that they caught the culprit.

"I don't know," Viljam said with worry. "Something feels...off," the Finnish wondered aloud, which earned everyone's attention.

"You're just overthinking it," Kanji said while patting Viljam's back.

"Oh, that reminds me," Yukiko said before slapping Viljam.

"AU! Mistä tuo oli," Viljam cried in shock. No one needed a translation to know what he was saying. The only response he received was a pointed look from the girls. Viljam looked confused for an instant, before he realized what he was hit for. "Sorry," the Finnish said sadly. "He looked like a pervert, so I thought that would work," the Finnish said in a downed tone.

"At least you understand. Good boy," Chie said, while patting the Finnish boy's head.

"What is he? Your pet," Kanji asked about the treatment Viljam received, which earned a laugh from Yosuke and Yukiko. Yu also looked highly amused. Especially, when Viljam's current facial expression gave the impression of a kicked puppy.

For some reason, that gave Chie an image of Viljam in a puppy costume, which made her laugh as well.

"Anyway, we should tell Rise the good news," Yu said with a smile. Everyone agreed to that. However, unbeknownst to others, Yu also felt that something was off. Hopefully it was nothing.

After arriving at the tofu shop again, they saw Rise's grandmother at the entrance. "Oh hello there," the old woman greeted.

"Is Rise-san here," Yosuke asked.

"I'm sorry, she seems to have gone out," the old woman said, which earned question marks from others.

"Wasn't she here a moment ago," Yu asked with worry. The naggin feeling was starting to become harder to ignore.

"She does that sometimes. She just wanders off without a word. You must forgive her," the old lady said, before returning to the shop.

"She left without saying anything," Yosuke replayed the information with worry.

"That doesn't sound good," Viljam said a little afraid of what this could mean.

"Shouldn't we look for her. I mean she couldn't have gone far, right," Chie exclaimed. Everyone went their separate ways to look for Rise. Unfortunately, they couldn't find her. The weather report promised rain for the night so they had no choice, but to watch the Midnight Channel and hope that their worries were unfounded.

 **(Dojima Residence. June 23rd. Evening)**

Yu was anxiously waiting for the show to start. Hopefully the "show" wasn't the kind that comes when people are thrown in. " _Please let me be wrong,_ " Yu prayed in his head.

Then the show started and sure enough the picture was clear, not to mentioned Rise appeared in her swimsuit. "Maru-Q! Push Risette! Good evening! I'm Rise Kujikawa," The Rise on the screen exclaimed cheerfully, before taking a pose that emphazises her chest. "This spring, one young girl levels up to become a high school idol...Yay," the bikini clad girl said seductively, which made Yu stare in disbelief. "So today, I'm going to celebrate by pushing the limits of Standards and Practices," Rise said, which made several more warning bells ring in Yu's head. "Does everyone know what time it is? Showtime!" Rise cheered again. "Show what huh? E-ve-ry-thing!" Rise said punctuating each syllable. "Ohh this is so embarrassing! Is this too hot for the TV," the bikini clad girl said while holding her cheeks. "Well if it's worth doing it's worth doing all the way. Stay tuned," Rise said before the screen shut down again.

Yu wasn't sure what to think of this "show". On one hand it was better than Kanji's but on the other hand, the contrast between this Rise and the normal one was weird. Suddenly his phone rang.

Yu picked his phone to answer. "Hello-.".

" _IS SHE SERIOUS!_ " Yu heard from the other end of the line. It was definitely Yosuke. " _Is she seriously going to 'show everything',_ " the Junes boy said in excitement. More than Yu liked to hear.

"Calm down," Yu ordered into the phone.

Thankfully Yosuke took the hint." _Sorry. I shouldn't be so excited. But damn it, we couldn't stop the killer this time either and we even knew who the target was,_ " Yosuke sighed.

"We need to save Rise as soon as possible. Let's go into the TV tomorrow," Yu said.

" _Yeah. By the way, wonder how Nousku reacted,_ " Yosuke then asked with an amused tone. " _I mean today, we just got proof that he isn't as innocent as the girls thought,_ " the Junes boy said smugly.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Beside, just because he knew what buttons to push on a pervert doesn't make him one," the silver haired boy stated.

" _He's still a guy and if he reacts to this like any sane guy would, I'm going to have fun at his expense,_ " Yosuke said with excitement, before hanging up.

For some reason, Yu thought that Yosuke wouldn't get to tease Viljam as much as he would like. Viljam may be a guy, but he's definitely not of standard quality...At least

mentally.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **And here it is. I wanted to make this chapter shorter, but I just wanted to end this chapter right after they see the show.**

 **I'm starting question if I'm borderlining Yosuke-bashing here. I mean, Viljam is laughing at Yosuke's expense and stole Yosuke's thunder with the peeping tom. I hope I'm not that far now, or ever. After all, Yosuke does his job pretty well as the best friend of the protagonist.**

 **Just a warning: I might not write with the same pace I used to anymore, but I will still keep going. So many scenes I have thought of need to be done, but I can't do them unless I get to them.**

 **Lastly...this might be a stupid question, but is there a difference between a two piece swimsuit and bikinis? I'm not exactly in the know about women's clothing.**

 **Translations:**

Jospa en näkisi mitään= **Wish I didn't see anything(not very accurate translation, but it's basically hoping for the best)**

Onko nuo bikinit= **Are those bikinis?**

Koska se on törppö= **Because it's a dummy(As explained before, 'it' is almost a synonym for a third person pronoun in Finland. Törppö actually means a bucket, but is also used to refer to a stupid person.)**

AU! Mistä tuo oli= **OW! What was that for(I probably didn't have to translate this, but I put it anyway)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 **Author's notes:**

 **As usual, Translations are found from the bottom.**

* * *

 **(TV World. June 24th. After School)**

Now that Rise was inside the TV, the gang needed to find her before a foggy day. Hopefully Teddie would be able to help with this.

"Heeey Teddie, how are you," Chie greeted the bear cheerfully.

To everyone's surprise the usually cheery bear looked depressed. "I wasn't crying," Teddie said, earning question marks from others. Then the bear fell on his knees. "Everyone was having fun out there. You forgot about me... I was abandoned," the bear said in depressed tone.

Everyone felt a little guilty at that. "We would never do that," Chie said in everyone's defense.

"I'm sorry. Were you lonely," Yukiko asked with slight worry.

"I was bored. It made me all listless," the bear said. "I'm a useless bear. I don't even know what I am," Teddie wailed. "Then I heard voices from your world. They were all having so much fun," Teddie said, making everyone feel various levels of guilty. "I was so lonely, that I tried to cry... But I couldn't," Teddie then said, giving everyone sweatdrops.

"Well...," Yosuke started speaking. "You are hollow inside," The Junes boy pointed out.

"Shut up! Stop saying I'm hollow," Teddie cried in anger.

"Don't snap at me," Yosuke retorted "This is your world isn't it!? You're the one who just wanted to live here in peace and made us promise to find the culprit," Yosuke pointed out.

Chie decided to step in. "Come on. I'm sure Teddie's just tired from thinking so much, right," Chie pointed out.

At those words, Teddie looked down again. "When I'm alone, I think too much. It makes me even lonelier," the bear admitted. " I was so sad that my chest would burst and cotton would fly out," Teddie added.

After these words, Chie and Yukiko moved to pet the bear, who visibly cheered up.

"Can I try scoring with you two someday," Teddie asked hopefully.

"Sure, go right ahead," Chie said, not daring to deny him the hope.

Yukiko on the other hand looked annoyed. "Can we please drop the whole 'scoring' thing," the red clad girl complained.

Kanji didn't feel comfortable about hearing the bear scoring with the girls, so he turned towards the others. Only to notice that Viljam had sat down and leaned his back against the TV stack that was their exit. "Hey, Viljam-senpai, you tired of standing or something," Kanji asked the Finnish boy, but didn't get a response. "Hey," Kanji tried to get the boy's attention again, but Viljam didn't even react.

By this time everyone else had directed their attention towards Viljam. "Dude, answer when you're talked to," Yosuke said with minor annoyance. After few seconds of not responding the Junes boy went in and poked Viljam's head. Instead of a reaction, Viljam's head slipped to the side limply. "The heck," Yosuke exclaimed, before lifting Viljam's glasses. Only to see his eyes closed. "The guy is asleep," Yosuke informed the others. Everyone had various looks of disbelief at the Finnish choosing this time for a nap.

Teddie didn't like. "How rude. I'm pouring my heart out here and Villy dares to sleep," Teddie exclaimed in annoyance.

Yosuke decided to wake the boy up. "Wake up," Yosuke said with a raised voice while shaking his shoulders.

"Älä kiusaa, Kirppu," Viljam grumbled sleepily. Yosuke had no idea what the Finnish was saying, nor did he care. All he wanted was the Finnish to wake up. Then he had a devilish idea which would grant him laugh at Viljam's expense. "Rise's shadow is stripping," Yosuke said with a loud voice. This woke Viljam up with a start.

"MISSÄ!?" Viljam cried in terror while jumping up, accidentally hitting Yosuke in the face. As Yosuke recovered from the blow Viljam looked around frantically.

"Really? That woke him up," Chie said in disappointment, not noticing that Viljam was terrified. Yukiko on the other hand did and looked worried.

Yu couldn't believe his eyes either, but that was because he too took note of Viljam's terrified state.

Once the Finnish had confirmed that Rise's shadow was nowhere in sight, the Finnish relaxed, before glaring at everyone present. "Who's idea was it to scare me like that," Viljam asked in annoyance. Chie and Kanji raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Scare?" Chie asked in confusion.

"Yelling that Rise's shadow is here. If that isn't scaring then what is," Viljam said not happy about his rude awakening.

"Dude, I said Rise's Shadow was stripping," Yosuke retorted in disbelief.

"Ohh. So you thought it was funny, to see me jump out of my skin," Viljam said angrily at Yosuke.

Now Yosuke was equally angry. "Who the hell gets scared of someone stripping," Yosuke yelled back, causing Viljam to flinch.

" You try having a nightmare about someone and we'll see how you'll react," The Finnish retorted, shutting Yosuke up. Then Viljam realized what he yelled and clamped his hands over his mouth, but it was too late, the cogs were turning in everyone's heads.

"You had a nightmare about Rise's shadow," Yu questioned, to which Viljam nodded.

Yukiko had a look of realization. "Oh! Nousku-kun did seem tired today," Yukiko exclaimed. Now that the other second years thought about it, Viljam looked tired the whole day.

"I woke up to the nightmare and couldn't sleep again," The Finnish boy said in shame. "I got so scared that I actually imagined the shadow would come through the TV," VIljam said while shivering at the thought.

Everyone were mildly disturbed at the thought of being attacked by shadows that come through the TV in their sleep. The thought wouldn't be so scary, if they could summon their Personas in the real world. "Teddie, is it possible for shadows to enter our world," Yu had to ask the question that started to nag at everyone.

Teddie had a confused look. "Of course not. The only exit is right there," Teddie said while pointing at the stack of TV's that are their exit.

"Are you sure shadows can't create an exit for themselves," Chie asked a little scared. If the others didn't fear the possibility from Viljam's words, they were now.

Teddie looked offended at the question. "GRRR! I'm the only one that can make an exit," Teddie said, while stomping his foot.

"How do you know," Yosuke asked in concern. "Isn't it possible that there is a shadow capable of entering our world," the Junes boy said, getting increasingly disturbed by the idea.

"GRGRGRGR! I'm telling you, only I can create an exit," Teddie insisted.

"Yosuke-senpai, wouldn't we've heard about an incident like that already," Kanji decided to pitch in. This earned a surprised look from others, it made sense to an extent.

"Kanji does have a point," Yu said. " If there was a shadow capable of entering our world, we probably would've heard about it by now," the silver haired boy added. Now that everyone thought of it, they probably would've heard about someone ranting about seeing a monster, corpse that had been mutilated, or some other outlandish story in the media.

Although Chie had come to this conclusion like the others, she was still nervous. "Yeah. You're right *ehhehe*," the green clad girl laughed nervously.

Yukiko on the other hand looked disappointed. "It would've been cool, though," the red clad girl voiced her thoughts earning weird looks from others.

Chie especially looked worried. "Uhh. Yukiko, innocent people might get hurt if that happened," Chie pointed out to her best friend.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Yukiko said, now ashamed of her previous statement.

Viljam decided to ignore his host-sister for now. "So...Did I miss anything important," Viljam carefully asked.

Everyone's attention was returned to the task at hand. "Nothing concerning the case," Yu informed. "But we were about to ask Teddie to track down Rise," the silver haired boy told the FInnish, who nodded his head in understanding.

Teddie looked down at the mention of him tracking. "I'm beary sorry, but I can't tell where this 'Rise' person is," the bear said sadly. "I can barely even tell someone is here," Teddie added.

Yosuke sighed at the bear. "Your nose has really been losing it's edge lately hasn't it," the Junes boy complained. "Can't you at least try harder," Yosuke then asked. Teddie just looked down in dismay.

"Hey. Why don't we go search for clues like we did last time," Chie then suggested.

"It did work then," Yu agreed. "Teddie if we found clues for you again, could you find Rise," Yu asked the bear.

"I'm not sure, but if you can give me just a little hint, I should be able to find her," Teddie said more cheerfully.

"Let's get going then," Yosuke said and turned to leave, with others following suit.

"Sensei," Teddie called Yu, who turned back towards the bear. "There's alot of things I don't understand," the bear said with a worried tone.

It didn't take much for Yu to understand what the oversized mascot was talking about. "We'll figure it out together, okay," Yu cheered the bear up.

"Thank you beary much, sensei," Teddie said happily.

With those words, Yu felt a faint bond forming between the two.

 **(Junes. June 24th. few seconds later)**

As soon as Yu came back out of the TV, he walked in on an interesting sight. Chie and Yosuke had an argument about something, Yukiko had Viljam in a comforting hug and Kanji just stood out of the way.

"What's going on," Yu asked the punk.

"Yosuke-senpai wanted to know what Viljam-senpai's nightmare was about. He didn't wanna talk, senpai started to grill him and Chie-senpai started to yell at Yosuke-senpai," Kanji explained. "Oh and Yukiko-senpai's comforting him now," Kanji added.

Yu glanced at the scenario. "...the heck you're defending him!? Aren't you interested in what skeletons he might have," Yosuke yelled at Chie.

"And who's telling you it's okay to make someone talk about things that clearly scare them," Chie yelled back.

"Let's just leave them be," Yu said, before slowly backing away from the situation. Kanji followed suit.

Yukiko noticed the two guys leaving and quickly ushered Viljam to go too. Leaving Yosuke and Chie to argue who knows how long.

 **(Yasogami High. June 25th. Early morning)**

Yosuke, Yu and Chie we're now in their class waiting for Viljam and Yukiko to arrive.

"What's keeping those two," Chie wondered, while tapping her foot on the floor.

"Who knows, maybe he's hitting on Amagi," Yosuke snarked. He was still a little sore about Chie making him look like a bully yesterday.

"He probably doesn't even know what that means," Chie retorted, not feeling like arguing.

Any further argument was interrupted by the sight of Yukiko's arrival. Though to everyone's surprise, Viljam wasn't with her.

"Where's Nousku," Yu was the first to ask.

"I told him to stay back at the Inn. He had another nightmare," Yukiko said a little down.

"Didn't he do just fine yesterday," Chie asked in curiosity. She doubted a mere two days of not sleeping properly affected that much.

Yukiko had a worried look on her face. "Nousku-kun looked like a zombie when I saw him, he seemed to forget what he was doing every ten seconds and he kept mumbling something incomprehensible," Yukiko listed.

Everyone got a curios look at the zombie part, but they decided not to question it. " Lucky him, getting to snooze away in his comfy futon, while we're here enduring the abuse of King Moron," Yosuke whined, which earned him a slap from Yukiko.

"Nousku-kun didn't want to stay, but I didn't give him a choice," Yukiko said sternly. "Only after I promised to take notes for him, did he stay put," the red clad girl said. Indeed, Viljam was insistent on soldering through the day even in his tired state. Only because he felt guilty about skipping school.

"I guess we have to search for more clues without him," Chie sighed. Despite the Finnish being tired yesterday, he insisted on making himself useful, so they allowed him to help searching for the clues. "By the way, did any of you find anything," the green clad girl then asked.

Yosuke sighed a little. "Nothing useful," Yosuke said. Yukiko also shook her head.

"I think I got something," Yu said, earning the three's attention. "I found someone willing to trade information about Rise, if all goes well we will be ready for TV today," the silver haired boy said reassuringly. Everyone gave an enthusiastic nod at that. Although Yukiko was worried about Viljam not getting any rest like she told him to.

 **(Amagi Inn. June 25th. After School)**

Yu said he can handle the rest of the information gathering on his own, because of this he told others to mentally prepare themselves to go inside the TV. Currently though. Yukiko and Chie were checking on Viljam.

"I wonder what kind of nightmare he had about Rise's shadow to make him that scared," Chie wondered idly as she and Yukiko walked towards the Finnish boy's room.

"I don't know, after Hanamura-kun's questioning I haven't dared to ask," Yukiko said with worry. "Besides, I wish to believe that he will tell us when he's ready," the red clad girl said wistfully.

Before Chie could answer that, Viljam had just come out of his room. The Finnish boy instantly noticed the girls with a startled look, before quickly retreating to his room.

The girls looked at each other questioningly, before moving at the front of Viljam's room and knocking.

"One moment." The two heard. This made the girls wonder what he was doing. Their answer came out when Viljam was dressed in his dark blue jeans and one of his better t-shirts. "Sorry about that, had to put on something more presentable," the Finnish boy said.

Yukiko tilted her head questioningly, until she realized that moments ago Viljam was dressed in his home clothes. Now she looked amused. "You don't have to get dressed up for me," the red clad girl giggled.

"Isn't it customary to wear presentable clothes when a guest is present," Viljam asked in a nervous tone.

"*snrk* It's only me in here," Chie said with a laugh. "Or were you trying to impress me," Chie teased, making Viljam very flustered.

"N-no! I-I just...f-feel uncomfortable if I'm not...p-presentable," Viljam stuttered, while looking away in embarrassment.

This made Yukiko get into a laughing fit. "*ahhahaha*You're so cute Nousku-kun,*ehhheheh*" the red clad girl laughed, causing Viljam to slump more in embarrassment.

"Please stop," The Finnish boy begged. The three's antics were interrupted by each of their phones beeping.

"It's from Narukami-kun," Chie said. In fact all three of them got the same message, which informed them, that he had gotten the clue they need. And now they needed to gather at Junes.

"Well. I guess we should go then," Yukiko said.

"But I just woke up and haven't eaten yet," Viljam protested.

"You can eat at Junes, let's go," Chie said, before grabbing the Finnish boy's hand and dragging him down the hall.

Yukiko was about to follow until she remembered something. If they were going inside the TV then that meant Viljam would need his weapon. So Yukiko went into Viljam's room to search for it.

 **(Junes Food Court. June 25th. Later)**

"I still can't believe that we couldn't stop the culprit," Yukiko sighed.

"Eh, what's done is done. We got no choice, but to go in now," Kanji said.

Chie decided to give Yosuke a stern look. "You better not slack off hoping she'll 'show everything'. You hear me," Chie threatened Yosuke.

"Hey I wouldn't do that," Yosuke retorted. "Besides, aren't you worried about this guy having a dream about her," Yosuke then said, hoping to get the attention out of him.

Now Viljam, who had been eating a steak he ordered, lifted his head with a blanched look. "That was a nightmare. You know, a bad dream," Viljam responded, clearly annoyed.

"I bet you would love to be in whatever horror Nousku-kun dreamed of," Chie said with venom at Yosuke.

"Chie-san, he was dying," Viljam cried in horror, before covering his mouth as everyone else gained exclamation marks at that.

"What do you mean I was dying," Yosuke asked in disbelief. Viljam just shrank away in his seat, not wanting to answer.

"Dude. What'd you dream about," Kanji asked more curios than worried.

At this Viljam sighed, before bracing himself. "In my nightmare, Yosuke, Kanji and Yu-san had been...violated...," Viljam shuddered at the mention of violation. "...and I was next," the Finnish said with a shiver of terror.

Yosuke and Yu went pale as they realized what Viljam meant. Kanji on the other hand looked confused. "What do you mean by 'violated'," Kanji asked, earning sweatdrops from the other guys.

"Y-you don't need to know that Kanji-kun," Chie quickly said. She and Yukiko had been horrified at what the Finnish boy had the nightmare about. This also raised a question: " _What the heck made him have that kind of dream?_ ".

Yu quickly shook his head to rid himself of the horrible images. "Anyway, we need to save Rise quickly. As for Nousku's dream, let's just assume he's overreacting," Yu said, though he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure others or himself.

Everyone nodded at that. They also agreed never to talk about this again.

 **(TV world. June 25th. Few minutes later)**

With the information Yu was able to gather, Teddie was able to find where Rise was. Though the area was pitch black.

"Why is it so dark in here," Chie complained. As soon as she said that, lights turned on revealing the area they were in. "Whoa! Is this a...," Chie was unable to finish that sentence.

"A what, " Viljam asked in curiosity. Unfortunately his question was ignored.

"Oh like the kind you always find in resort towns," Yosuke exclaimed.

"What are you talking about," Viljam asked again, but no one paid any attention to him.

"I think you're right," Yukiko agreed with Yosuke. Then her eyes widened. "But we don't have that! Our inn is not like that," Yukiko quickly said.

Viljam was getting annoyed. "Would someone please tell me what this place is!?".

"It's a strip club man," Kanji finally said, earning a blank look from Viljam.

"...Now I regret asking," the Finnish boy sighed, while covering his face with his hand.

"You know what a strip club is," Yosuke asked in amazement. Part of him thought Viljam doesn't know what a strip club is.

"I've watched enough movies to have an idea," Viljam explained like it was perfectly normal.

"Anyway now I think that Nousku's imagination just went into an overdrive in his sleep," Yu said slightly relieved that it wasn't anything too terrible...Well, relatively speaking of course. This does explain what the "showing everything" means and if that happened who knows how people who see the Midnight Channel think of Rise. "Let's do this," Yu said earning enthusiastic nods from others.

 **(Some time later)**

"Finish it off Satonaka," Yosuke cheered, right before the girl in question stomped on a coffin-like shadow, effectively destroying it.

"Chie-chan's awesome," Teddie cheered as well.

"Nice one, Satonaka-san," Yu congratulated, before turning to Viljam and Yukiko. "But what are we going to do with these two," the silverhaired boy asked with worry.

During the fight, the coffin-like shadow had used some kind of spell. Only Yukiko and Viljam were affected, while the others were able to resist it. They weren't sure what happened to them other than them constantly forgetting what they were doing.

"Uhh..Don't you have a Persona that can do something about this," Chie asked in concern.

As soon as Chie said that, Viljam and Yukiko blinked twice. "What just happened," they asked in unison. The two looked at each other, before laughing at their simultaneous talking. Everyone else sweatdropped at this exchange.

"Uhh...Are Yukiko-senpai and Viljam-senpai always like that," Kanji asked.

"Sadly yes," Yosuke said.

"Let's just move on," Yu sighed.

 **(More later)**

"Break 'em Take-Mikazuchi," Kanji shouted as his Persona smashed a rock-like shadow. unfortunately, it didn't do much.

"It's strong against physical attacks," Teddie informed the rest.

"King Frost!" Yu called out one of his new Persona's to cast bufula.

"It's weak to ice," Teddie cheered.

"Leave the rest to me," Viljam called out before having Louhi cast Bufula, finishing it off.

"That's all of them," Teddie said as he came out of hiding spot.

"Is it just me, or are the shadows here more annoying," Chie complained after checking the surroundings for anymore surprises.

"Good thing they're just annoying and not ridiculously powerful," Yosuke said his piece. "I just hope we won't have to face anything too terrible," the Junes boy added. With that they moved on again. Except Viljam froze in his spot before looking around frantically.

"Is something wrong," Yu asked the Finnish boy who nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Umm...Nothing," Viljam said with little confidence. Yu gave Viljam a pointed stare in response. "...*sigh* I felt like someone was staring at me," Viljam caved in.

"Dude, you're paranoid," Yosuke said with a sweatdrop, having heard the conversation.

"Sorry," Viljam said in shame. "I just can't shake the feeling of there being a predator hunting me," Viljam said with a shiver of fear. This earned weird looks from everyone(except Yukiko, who had a look of pity).

"Nousku, we'll be fine. Just don't stray too far from us," Yu tried to encourage the Finnish boy.

Viljam sighed. "Thanks and sorry," Viljam apologized again of his scared state.

"Don't worry about it," Yu said before leading everyone to the door that they still hadn't checked.

In this next room they saw Rise, or actually her shadow. Sure enough it was wearing the bikini they saw on the Midnight Channel and holding a mike.

" **Hello all you fans out there! Thanks for coming today,** " the shadow said in a distorted version of Rise's voice, which sounded very creepy.

"Umm... is it just me or does that shadow look demented," Viljam asked unsurely. It was true, the shadows golden eyes had a demented look to them.

" **Today, you're going to see every last inch of me,** " the shadow continued, before putting one hand around her ear to better hear the figurative audience. " **What's that? You don't believe me,** " the shadow asked the 'audience', before laughing. " **Then why don't we-,** " the shadow said seductively, while moving one strap of her bikini top teasingly. Everyone thought it was going to strip right there and then, until," **Oh, but you won't be able to see with all this smoke huh,** " the shadow said as if it just realized it. " **Okie-dokie! Just follow me a little further and I'll show you I'm every bit as good as my word,** " the shadow giggled and with those words, the title "Maru-Q Midsummer Night's Dream Special. Risette EXPOSED!" appeared briefly..

"We're we like that," Kanji asked in discomfort. "That's...going kinda far," the punk continued. his musings were interrupted by noises coming from everywhere.

"The roar of the crowd is insane this time," Chie complained. "It's making me feel sick," the green clad girl added as she got a mental image of what kind of people were watching.

Yu had a worried look on his face. "If people are watching this, then we have to stop this and fast," the silverhaired boy said.

"Yeah, I hope we won't be too late to save Rise's reputation," Yosuke added.

" **All right Risetteers! Don't touch that dial,** " the shadow started talking again. " **When we come back you'll get to take a good, long look at the real me. Maru-Q!** " with those words, the shadow ran off.

"We'd better move it," Yosuke said. "This is a thousand times worse than hearing a few nasty secrets," the Junes boy added. Then they heard a rumbling sound.

"The shadows are really getting aggravated," Teddie said with worry. "What we just saw was what that Rise girl is suppressing, she'll be in trouble at this rate," the walking costume added.

"Then we better hurry and get as close as we can today," Yu said, before turning towards Viljam. "You good to go, Nousku," Yu asked the Finnish, who took a couple deep breaths.

"I'll be fine," Viljam said with some confidence. "I'm still disturbed by her demented look though," the Finnish added.

"Well she did seem strange," Yukiko admitted. "I wonder if Nousku-kun's dream was a premonition after all," the red clad girl added absentmindedly.

This earned a weird glance from Chie "Ugghh, Yukiko. You do realize that you're talking about Rise's shadow doing funny stuff to the guys," Chie reminded her best friend in concern.

"Oh right! Sorry," Yukiko apologized. No one was sure, whether they should laugh or feel concerned for Yukiko's absentminded thinking.

"...I thought we were going to forget that," Kanji said after few moments of uncomfortable silence. No one said anything after that and just moved on.

 **(Even more later)**

"SOMEBODY STOP HIM ALREADY!" Yosuke cried as he dodged another swipe from the sickle end of Viljam's weapon.

Speaking of the Finnish boy, he was currently chasing Yosuke with a crazed look on his face. "Näin sitä sattoo korjaataan~," the Finnish boy sang as threw the weapon again.

"I'll get him," Kanji called out as he managed to grab Viljam from behind. Effectively locking his arms.

"ÄÄK! Hullu punkkari tahtoo pahaa!" Viljam cried as he struggled in Kanji's grip.

Meanwhile Chie, Yu and Teddie had their hands full with Yukiko. "Can't...breathe," Yu wheezed out as Yukiko was hugging his neck, effectively crushing his windpipe.

"My beautiful prince," Yukiko giggled in a daze. " Let us burn these evil creatures who refuse to acknowledge our love," Yukiko said deliriously as she briefly used her other hand to summon her Persona. Or at least tried, because she wasn't sane enough to do that right now. Chie was trying to pry her best friend off of Yu.

"URGH! Yukiko snap out of it!" Chie yelled at her friend in vain. The only thing Yukiko was focused on was violently cuddling Yu.

"Just keep trying, they'll snap out of it soon," Teddie called from a safe distance. "I think," the bear then mumbled.

Few moments earlier a group of fat detective looking shadows surprised them. These shadows repel magic attacks so they had to go physical. Unfortunately just before they were finished off by Chie and Kanji, Viljam was curious if they would repel his ailments too. They did. Now they had a kusarigama swinging guy and a clingy girl trying to murder them. Worst of all there were only two people in their team who could use Patra. Unfortunately one of them was currently being clingy and the other one was being clinged upon.

"AAUUUGGHH!" Was suddenly heard. Followed by a *WHACK*

Chie's attention was momentarily brought towards the noise. Only to witness Kanji with his foldable chair in a position like it had been just used and an unconcious VIljam. "Kanji-kun! Did you have to hit him," Chie yelled angrily, even while she was trying to get Yukiko's arms off of Yu's neck.

"The guy frigging bit me!" Kanji roared as he nursed his hand.

"...help," came Yu's now weak voice. But just as his vision blurred, Yukiko's arms slacked just enough for Yu to break free and gasp for air.

"Huh? What was I doing," Yukiko asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Yukiko, you're okay again," Chie said with relief, while pulling her friend into a hug.

"Umm. Did something happen," Yukiko asked even more confused.

"Villy's Tentarafoo backfired on you, Yuki-chan," Teddie said suddenly.

"Oh? Was that it," Yukiko asked like nothing was wrong, causing others to sweatdrop. Shouldn't she at least be worried if she or Viljam did something weird? "Wait! Is Nousku-kun okay," Yukiko then asked.

With that everyone turned towards the downed Finnish boy. Everyone quickly moved to check on him.

Yu quickly checked for a pulse. "He's alive at least," the silverhaired boy informed to everyone's relief.

"By the way, Kanji. You said he bit you, how bad is it," Yosuke then asked the punk.

"It's nothing," Kanji said while taking a cloth out of his pocket and wiping his bitten hand on it.

"Wait!"Chie suddenly exclaimed as she noticed how the cloth was changing color. "You're bleeding," the green clad girl said in disbelief. That caused everyone to shift their gazes between Kanji and Viljam. The girls had a hard time believing that the frail Viljam they knew could bite that hard. Looking at him now, he looked so peaceful.

"Urggh! Let's just wake him up," Yosuke groaned before starting to shake Viljam. Unfortunately that didn't wake him up. "Kanji, how hard did you hit him," Yosuke asked as he tried to shake harder.

"Like I know that!" Kanji shouted. "I thought he was gonna take a chunk out of my hand," Kanji defended his actions.

"Guys, I think we have to call this a day and take him out of here," Yu said trying to direct this conversation elsewhere.

"You're right, we can't exactly move forward with Nousku-kun unconcious," Chie sighed.

"I hope he's alright," Yukiko said in concern. Then Yosuke had a brilliant idea.

"Guys I think I came up with a way to wake this guy up," the Junes boy exclaimed, earning everyone's attention. "But it's a little drastic, so if he starts acting weird don't blame me," Yosuke said a little morbidly.

"Hanamura," Chie said in a threatening tone. "If you do something horrible to him, I'm gonna-"

"It's nothing too terrible, and the after effects will leave him in time," Yosuke said before Chie could finish her threat.

"You're sure it'll wake him up," Yu asked skeptically.

"If it doesn't, I don't know what will," Yosuke said seriously.

"Then do it," Yu ordered despite having a bad feeling about this, and with that Yosuke started to whisper something in Viljam's ear.

"What's he doing," Chie wondered in suspicion.

Yukiko moved into a position where she could see Viljam's face. It was scrunching in discomfort. Though what she couldn't see clearly because of the lighting of this place was that his face was turning redder by the second.

Then Yosuke moved away just in time for Viljam to snap awake with wide eyes and a crying something in Finnish, then he blinked several times before looking around. "When did I fall asleep," Viljam asked in embarrassment. "And why is my head hurting," he added while rubbing the area Kanji hit. The Finnish was given a brief summarization about what happened. Of course the first thing he did was apologize to Kanji for biting him. Thankfully Kanji forgave him.

"So, what did you dream to cause you to wake up like that," Chie asked a little worried about what kind of nightmare Yosuke might've inflicted on him. Viljam just turned his head away.

"I just wanna forget it," Viljam said almost too quietly for others to hear.

Both girls threw an accusing glare at Yosuke. "Hey I told you it was a drastic measure," Yosuke said defensively, but that didn't do anything to dissuade the girls.

While the girls were glaring at Yosuke, Kanji and Yu had their attention on VIljam. "Nousku, just answer me this, did Yosuke whisper something scary to you," Yu asked firmly.

"No." Was the simple answer

"Senpai, you don't have to act tough," Kanji chimed in.

"I'm not acting tough," Viljam retorted a little harsher than he meant. "Sorry. But really, it's nothing, though I don't think you should leave me alone with Yosuke for a while," Viljam said, earning the rest of the gangs attention.

"Why not?" It was Teddie who asked innocently.

"Because then you'll find his pieces leading from here to Saapaskukkula," Viljam said in eerie calmness. No one knew what 'Saapaskukkula' was, but they did know that their friend was contemplating murder.

"Please tell me that you're joking," Yosuke said a little freaked out. Viljam's response was a soulless stare, which caused Yosuke to hide behind Yu. "Stop it, man! You're freaking me out!" Yosuke cried, while Yu was a little worried about becoming collateral damage.

"Good," Viljam said with a smile. "So, are we moving on," Viljam asked like he didn't just claim to murder Yosuke.

"I think it's best we call it a day," Yu said thinking that no one was in the right mindset right now. "Are you guys available tomorrow," Yu asked everyone.

"I need to help mom at the shop," Kanji was the first to say.

"I got nothing special," Yosuke said.

"Same here," Chie said.

"But Chie, you promised to study with us," Yukiko scolded her best friend. "Also a large group of people are coming tomorrow, so I need to help around the Inn," the red clad girl added.

"And I already promised to help too," Viljam added.

"Guess it can't be helped," Yu said. " It shouldn't rain for the next few nights so Rise's reputation should be safe for the most part," the silverhaired boy added, more to himself than to others. Also no rain, means no fog, so Rise will be safe for now. With those thoughts everyone fell back for now.

 **(Dojima household. June 25th. Evening)**

As much as Yu thought that falling back was a wise decision, he can't shake the worry he felt. He knew that until the fog appears here, the shadows won't attack Rise and as long as they can prevent Rise's shadow from going berserk they won't run the risk of one of their friends dying.

Even as he ran these facts through his head he still couldn't help but worry. In the end, Yu decided to call Yosuke on something he had been wondering.

" _Hello,_ " Yosuke answered his phone.

"Hey Yosuke. Could you tell me what you whispered into Nousku's ear to wake him up," Yu asked straight out.

" _Not you too. Satonaka and Amagi give me hard enough time about it already,_ " Yosuke complained into the phone. It was true, up until they exited the TV World, Yukiko and Chie were interrogating Yosuke on what he did to Viljam. Yosuke held his tongue despite several threats of violence from Chie. Viljam himself refused to talk about it at all, no matter what anyone did to get him to talk.

"Look, I need a distraction," Yu said a little more urgently. "Besides I promise I won't tell anyone else," the silverhaired boy added.

A moment of silence came from the other end. " _You're worried about Rise,_ " Yosuke stated understanding what the problem was. " _*sigh* Alright, but promise you won't tell anyone else. Especially Satonaka,_ " Yosuke said with a sigh. After Yu gave a confirmation, Yosuke prepped himself to tell. " _Well it went like this..._ "

 **(Amagin Inn. June 25th. Roughly the same time)**

Viljam was currently covering his face with his pillow trying to will the treacherous image away, but unfortunately covering his eyes only made the image more vivid. "Miksi se teki tän mulle," the boy complained in Finnish. In all honesty Viljam would want to forget the dream that Yosuke managed to weave into his mind.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _"_ _ **Your turn cutie,**_ _" Rise's shadow said while licking her lips, which made the already terrified Viljam want to cry. As a childish last ditch effort, Viljam closed his eyes hoping that the end would be quick. When Viljam didn't feel anything happening he dared to open his eyes. Instead of the strip club, he was back in his room at Amagi Inn. Before the Finnish boy could question what happened, someone hugged him from behind. Viljam quickly looked at the hands and noticed that they belong to the girl._

 _"Hello, Nousku-kun," A girls voice said seductively. One that Viljam didn't think knew how to use such a tone. The Finnish boy was barely able to turn his head around just enough to notice that the girl was none othe than Chie. Though two things struck Viljam as odd. First, her face was flushed. Second, she was wearing the same two piece that Rise's shadow wore._

 _"Chie-san! W-w-what are you doing," Viljam was able to stutter. Chie only smirked before nuzzling her head against Viljam's neck._

 _"Seducing you, what else," the girl said like it was obvious, causing Viljam to freeze. That did NOT sound right. "Now be a good boy and just relax," Chie whispered into his ear, before her hands went south._

 _"ÄLÄ!" was the last thing Viljam cried before waking up._

 _ **(Flashback end)**_

"UUURRGGHH!" came Viljam's muffled cry. Worst of all, whenever Viljam glanced at Chie he was instantly reminded of how she was in the dream. Sure Yosuke manipulated his dream, but that was no excuse as far as Viljam was concerned. The Finnish boy tried to think of something else, anything that didn't involve Chie.

In the end he managed to distract himself by imagining his kusarigama's chain wrapped around Yosuke's neck. That worked for about ten seconds.

 **(Back at Dojima household)**

Yu knew he shouldn't laugh, but this was too rich. Yosuke manipulating Viljam to have a dream about Chie trying to seduce the Finnish boy. Come to think of it, whenever Viljam so much as looked at Chie after waking up he turned his head away with a blush. If any of the girls found out about this, they would have Yosuke's head. "You're evil you know that," Yu was finally able to say after calming down.

" _Yeah I might've gone too far,_ " Yosuke admitted, but judging by his tone he wasn't sorry at all. " _Now we know that he is capable of thinking those things,_ " the Junes boy added with a chuckle.

"You make it sound like we're trying to corrupt him," Yu said halfheartedly.

" _Oh please, he's just afraid of the girls hating him if he admits thinking like a normal guy,_ " Yosuke retorted jokingly. " _Anyway, wanna hang out tomorrow? If Nousku and Amagi are busy with the Inn, we have nothing better to do,_ " Yosuke then asked.

"Sure," Yu shrugged, with those plans the two hung up and Yu went to sleep.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I couldn't resist writing those dreams. I just couldn't. Anyway I got a question for you. Should I write what happens on the "break day" or will I skip to the day after. I can always write a brief summary or some short references later. Regardless I hope this chapter made at least some people laugh. I know I had fun writing this although I had a few blocks here and there.**

 **Translations:**

Älä kiusaa, Kirppu **= Don't bully me, Flea.**

MISSÄ!?= **WHERE!?**

Näin sitä sattoo korjaataan= **This is how you harvest**

Hullu punkkari tahtoo pahaa= **Crazy punk wants bad (or 'evil' if you prefer)**

Miksi se teki tän mulle = **Why did it do this to me** **(Just for the record, this is spoken Finnish, not literal. If you don't understand what that means, then I don't know how to explain it in english)**

 _ÄLÄ=_ **Don't**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 **Author's notes:**

 **Finally I was able to write this chapter. I have no idea why it was so hard. Maybe I ran out of ideas on how to write this, but I'm just happy to make progress. I hope I finally get to pick up more momentum again.**

 **As usual translations are found at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Amagi Inn(Yukiko's room). June 26th. Evening)**

Despite their tight schedule because of the group that arrived. Yukiko and Viljam found time to study. Chie was also with them as promised.

"URRGH. Why does this have to be so hard," Chie complained about the problem she was trying to solve.

"Chie, we've gone over this already," Yukiko said, though how she remained patient was beyond Viljam.

"Sorry about this," Viljam apologized out of nowhere.

"For what?" Yukiko asked utterly confused.

"You have your hands full with helping Chie-san and I. A normal person would be fuming by now," Viljam said. Chie hated being reminded of needing help, but she had to admit that Viljam had a point about Yukiko's patience.

"It's what friends are for," Yukiko said with a smile. "It's not your fault that you have it rougher than most," Yukiko said while patting Viljam's head.

"Why do I have to be so dumb," Chie mumbled under her breath. Viljam has a genuine learning disorder and he's still doing better than the green clad girl. Not drastically but still.

"I guess I should count myself lucky that my brain isn't as defective as some people had," Viljam sighed.

"What do you mean by that," Chie asked a little curious about the wording Viljam used.

"It's nothing important, let's just focus on studying," Viljam said dismissively. "Uhh...Yukiko, how do I read this," Viljam asked after noticing a kanji he doesn't recognize. Yukiko took a quick look at what Viljam meant before explaining how it's read. After that Viljam checked his phone for something before nodding in satisfaction.

"Why are you checking your phone," Chie asked out of curiosity. Viljam had been fumbling with his phone every so often while studying and that made the green clad girl curious.

"My phone has a dictionary for Japanese language. It works by either building a kanji or using romaji **(1)** ," VIljam explained.

"Oh. How often do you use it," Chie asked again.

Viljam gave the girl a look. "I thought you saw me using it nearly every five seconds," Viljam said.

"Shut up!" was the only retort Chie could come up with.

At Chie's exclamation Yukiko actually laughed. Not like her laughing fits but pretty close. Then Viljam joined his host-sister in the laughing.

"Not funny," Chie said, clearly annoyed.

"*Ehhehe*Sorry, but you're just*kihhihihii* cute," Viljam said between laughs.

Chie wasn't sure if she should feel flustered or angry. She settled with flustered anger. "Would you just shut up already," Chie said with a raised voice.

That made Viljam shut up. "Sorry," Viljam apologized. "But you're just so cute sometimes," the Finnish defended his actions.

Chie almost blushed at the compliment, but then she caught onto the wording Viljam used. "What do you mean 'sometimes'," Chie asked taking some offense.

Viljam opened his mouth to answer, before he had a thoughtful look. "Good question. You're always cute," Viljam said causing Chie's face to go blank.

"Wait a minute, if I'm always cute then why did you say sometimes," Chie asked in disbelief.

Viljam gave a shrug at that. "Momentary lapse in thinking guess. I mean right now you were especially cute," Viljam said with a straight face that Chie was pretty sure didn't belong to him.

"That doesn't even make sense," the green clad girl said getting frustrated with Viljam's weird thought pattern.

At this moment Yukiko started laughing again, earning questioning looks from the two. "*ahhahah* This conversation is*ehhhehe* ridiculous," Yukiko managed to say between laughs.

"Kinda is," Viljam admitted as Yukiko's laughter slowly infected him.

When Viljam too was reduced to a laughing mess, Chie face-palmed. "I hate you two so much right now," the green clad girl mumbled. "Now why don't you be a good boy and just shut up," the green clad girl said as calmly as she could.

At those words Viljam froze for a moment. Then he turned his head away from the girls to hide the color that was rising to his cheeks.

Yukiko stopped laughing at seeing Viljam's behavior. "What's wrong, Nousku-kun," Yukiko asked.

"Just give me a moment," Viljam said, before he started clapping his cheeks to gather his thoughts. "Okay I'm fine now," the Finnish boy said and turned to face the girls again.

"Was it something I said," Chie asked in curiosity.

"It's nothing," Viljam said dismissively, or at least tried to sound like it.

"Why is your face red," Chie asked in suspicion. Viljam did gather his thougths, but unfortunately his face didn't reach normal color yet. Actually now that Chie pointed it out, Viljam's face became redder.

Viljam did a split second decision. "What you said before sounded too close to what Yosuke manipulated into my head," Viljam admitted before Chie got the wrong idea.

Now Yukiko blushed too at the implications of what kind of dream would make him blush. "W-what kind of dream did he...," Yukiko stuttered unable to finish that sentence.

Chie on the other hand saw red. "Did Hanamura make you imagine Rise showing everything," Chie asked dangerously. Earning a quick shake of the head from Viljam. Unfortunately Chie didn't buy it. " Nuh-uh. Now either you tell me everything or you'll get punished too," Chie threatened, causing Viljam to shrink away in fear.

"Chie stop it," Yukiko shouted before pulling Viljam into a comforting hug. "You can't take your anger for Hanamura-kun at Nousku-kun," Yukiko said while patting Viljam's back comfortingly.

Chie's anger was replaced by guilt. Sure Viljam's dream might've involved something inappropriate, but that's because Yosuke manipulated the poor boy's dreams. "Sorry," was all Chie was able to say. "But I still need to punish Hanamura tomorrow," Chie said with a dangerous tone.

 **(Hanamura dining room. Roughly the same time)**

Yosuke felt a sudden chill down his spine, which made him visibly shiver.

"What's wrong Yosuke-chan," Yosuke's mother asked noticing her son shivering.

"I don't know. I just felt like something bad is about to happen," Yosuke said with worry and fear.

 **(Back in Amagi Inn)**

"Umm. Chie-san. As much as I don't like Yosuke right now, can you wait until after we rescue Rise," Viljam asked carefully. "I mean, he is more useful than I am," the Finnish boy added.

Chie scoffed at that." Don't sell yourself so short," Chie said, before moving to pat Viljam's head. This caused Yukiko to giggle. "What," Chie asked, confused at her friend's laughing.

"And you said he's bad influence on me," Yukiko said with a snicker.

"Hey," was the only thing Chie was able to say.

Viljam on the other hand was confused. "What do you mean I'm bad influence?".

"Chie said that you have bad influence on me with your-mph," Yukiko's answer was cut off when Chie clamped her hand over her best friend's mouth.

"I-it's n-nothing," Chie stuttered. "Y-yukiko's just saying her own things," the green clad girl tried to play it off. Judging by the suspicious look Viljam was giving her, it wasn't working.

"Why do I feel the need to ask: How stupid do you think I am," Viljam deadpanned. This caused an awkward silence from Chie.

The silence was broken by Yukiko's muffled protests. Chie glanced at her best friend to realize her hands were still on Yukiko's mouth. Chie reluctantly let go. "Chie says you're bad influence on me for hugging me and patting people's heads," Yukiko finished what she wanted to say before.

This earned a blanched look from Viljam. "First: Last I checked I only hug Yukiko. Second: I only pat Yukiko's head," Viljam said like Chie's claims were weird. "Is it customary to be distant," Viljam asked, earning confused looks from the girls.

"What do you mean," Yukiko asked curiously.

"Because I've heard that any form of physical contact is considered public indecency in Japan," Viljam asked. At this both girls looked at each other before bursting into laughter due to how ridiculous that sounded. "What," Viljam asked the laughing girls, but the girls were too busy laughing to answer. "WHAT!? What's so funny," Viljam asked, getting increasingly embarrassed at possibly saying something very dumb.

"You're so cute sometimes too," Chie said as a retort to Viljam's previous words.

"What does that have to do with anything," Viljam asked totally unamused.

"Come on don't be so sensitive," Chie said clearly amused. "It's immature," the green clad girl added.

Viljam blinked at the words. "I'm so tempted to respond to that, but I value my life too much," the Finnish boy deadpanned.

Before Chie could demand a clarification, Yukiko remembered to check the clock in her room. "Chie, shouldn't you be going home about now," Yukiko reminded after seeing the time.

"Huh? ACK! It's already this late," Chie exclaimed and quickly gathered her things.

Viljam took a quick glance at Chie's open notebook before it was swiped away. "That whole page was wrong," Viljam said, earning a light slap from Yukiko, who had a stern look. "I know it was uncalled for, but I couldn't help it," Viljam said simply.

Chie didn't like her mistakes being pointed out, but she had to get home fast before the curfew, otherwise her parents will chew her out. "See you two tomorrow," Chie said before running off.

Viljam too got up to return to his room. "Where do you think you're going," Yukiko asked a little too sweetly for Viljam's liking.

"Umm..My family is expecting me for another video update," Viljam said nervously.

Yukiko let out a disappointed sigh. "Fine, but we're going to work on your studying later," Yukiko said, to which the Finnish boy nodded. Yukiko wouldn't have let that excuse fly if it wasn't the condition for letting the Finnish boy stay here from his parents. According to Viljam's words: "If I don't update them weekly, they're going to have me returned in a box if they must.". The Amagi girl shook her head at those thoughts. Surely Viljam's parents wouldn't have their son sent back to them in a tiny box.

 **(TV World. June 27th. After school)**

Yosuke felt a little paranoid all day. Occasionally he felt like someone was directing murderous intent at him, but when he looked around he didn't see anything wrong.

"Guys I think something wants to kill me," Yosuke said after feeling the murderous intent for the umpteenth time.

"Not you too," Kanji complained. "When Viljam-senpai feels better, someone else gets paranoid," the punk said with a sigh. It was true Viljam felt less scared about entering here than last time, but the Finnish boy was still a little jumpy.

"Actually Yosuke has a bit of a right to be scared," Viljam decided to pipe up, earning questioning looks from all but the girls.

"What do you mean," Yu asked curiosly.

Viljam had a mischievous look. "Let's just say he will have his divine punishment once we're done here," was all the Finnish said.

"Dude if this is about what I whispered in your ear then I'm sorry," Yosuke said, thinking that the murderous intent came from Viljam.

Viljam gave a smile at Yosuke. "Relax, I don't have a grudge," Viljam said dismissively.

"Umm... Guys if Yosuke is scared then maybe we should escort him back," Teddie said out of nowhere.

"HEY!" Yosuke exclaimed in protest earning laughs from others.

 **(A little later)**

Everyone just climbed a set of stairs to the next floor. Though they had to go to the fox to get some healing leaves so they could keep going.

"These shadows are really starting to get annoying," Yosuke complained. The shadows here loved to use ailments to hamper them. Even with Viljam using Tentarafoo to even the odds they still had problems.

"Yeah. Why can't they just be straight on battlers," Kanji added.

"Because that would be too easy," Viljam deadpanned.

Yu sighed at Viljam's comment." I wish you were joking, but you might be onto something," the silverhaired boy said.

Suddenly the lights turned off, surprising everyone. One of them even gave a high pitched shriek, causing everyone to turn towards the sound. After their eyes adjusted, they were able to see Yukiko next to Viljam.

"Did you just scream like a girl," Yukiko asked Viljam who was wishing to be swallowed by the floor now.

"...yes," Viljam admitted with a barely audible voice, since there was no point in hiding it.

" **Oh, sorry about the lights,** " Rise's cheerful voice sounded suddenly, putting everyone on guard. " **But I'm still a little embarrassed, so I had to turn them off,** " the voice said coyly.

Teddie's eyes widened. "If she turned off the lights then that means...," Teddie trailed off before turning towards Yu. "S-sensei, am I about to climb the stairway to adulthood," Teddie asked with way too much enthusiasm for anyone's liking.

"Uhh...," Yu stammered, for he had no idea what to answer.

"Really Ted?" Yosuke deadpanned. " I don't think it's anything like that," the Junes boy added earning various sounds of agreement.

"Uhh.. Like what," it was Kanji who asked that, earning a facepalm from Yosuke.

"Nothing important, let's move on," Yu said quickly before ushering everyone to move.

Unbeknownst to others, Viljam let out a breath he had been holding. Thank god for Rise's voice saving him from further embarrassment.

"Are you scared of dark," Yukiko whispered, crushing Viljam's hope of no one remembering his...slip up.

Viljam leaned in to whisper back," It's not that I'm scared, but the sudden absence of vision in a hostile area scared me.".

Yukiko nodded at Viljam's reasoning. It did make sense, except..."Did it scare you so much that it made you scream," Yukiko then asked innocently and quietly.

Viljam slumped at that, before nodding. "Sorry," Viljam apologized. Yukiko just smiled at her guest-brother before patting his head affectionately.

"What're you two whispering about," asked Kanji bringing the two back to their friends.

"Just sibling stuff," Yukiko answered quickly, this unfortunately earned some suspicious looks from others.

"You two aren't really siblings, you know that, right," Chie said, still not liking the image of Viljam as Yukiko's brother. That made Yukiko look down a little.

"Chie-san don't be a killjoy," Viljam scolded, which earned a laugh from Yosuke and Yu.

Not wanting to embarrass herself further, Chie clammed up while glaring at the Finnish boy. With that everyone moved on in the dark.

 **(Later)**

"GAHH!" Viljam cried after being hit by a Bufudyne from a tank-like shadow. Thankfully he was resistant to ice, but it still dealt massive damage. "Tuo kostetaan!" Viljam shouted before summoning Louhi to fire a Bufula. Unfortunately they had used every single attack they knew and it seemed like this shadow doesn't have a weakness.

"RAMPAGE!" Chie called out the attack which dealt good damage on the tank and another coffin like shadow. The coffin responded by using Old One. Only Kanji and Yu were affected, but Yukiko quickly used Amrita to restore them.

"Pyro Jack!" Yu called out and the lantern wielding pumpkin head fired a Maragion from it's lantern.

"Go Take Mikazuchi!" Kanji called out his persona, who fired a Zionga at the tank Finishing it off.

"Let's do this Jiraiya!" Yosuke shouted and his persona who fired a Garula, effectively finishing the coffin shadow.

Yukiko used Media to heal everyone, before they moved on.

"Seriously! They had a frigging tank," Yosuke complained while stretching his arms.

"Can we take a break," Viljam asked while breathing a heavily. "My lungs hurt," Viljam added while clutching the general area of the said organ.

Everyone agreed to take a short break. Although they were worried about Viljam being able to continue, the Finnish boy assured them that once his breathing settled he can continue.

 **(Even more later)**

After Viljam was able to breathe easily again, the gang had moved on. Now they were in front of a door, from where they heard Rise giggling. Yu turned towards the others." Guys, be ready for anything," Yu warned them. At everyone giving various nods of confirmation, they moved in.

They entered a large room with Rise's shadow waiting in the middle. " **It's my first time. Please be gentle,** " the shadow said before the lights turned back on. To everyone's shock Rise's shadow was replaced by an enormous snake.

The shadow instantly lunged at the party, who scattered out of the way.

Kanji quickly smacked the thing with his foldable chair. To which the snake responded by releasing some sort of gas. on everyone.

"It increased the chance of inflicting ailments. Be careful," Teddie warned everyone.

"That doesn't sound good," Yu said before firing a Zionga with Izanagi.

As if responding to Yu's words the snake used Virus Wave, poisoning Chie, Yukiko and Kanji. Though Yukiko quickly used Amrita. At the same time Viljam used Tentarafoo, but it had no effect.

"Why is it, that whenever we need them the most, my ailments don't work," Viljam vented his frustration.

"That's a billion yen question," Yu said before having Pyro Jack use Agilao. The shadow was actually knocked down.

"It's beary weak to fire," Teddie cheered. Not only that but because it was downed, everyone had an evil smile.

"Everyone! Pile on," Yu ordered and everyone did just that. Kanji and Chie repeatedly smashed/kicked it's head. Yu, Yosuke and Viljam slashed at it with their respective weapons. Yukiko too smacked it with her fan, which did more damage than common sense allows. Soon enough the snake shook everyone off, before staring them all down.

"Yukiko," Viljam called his host-sister with a mischievous look. Yukiko nodded and the two performed Twin Arcana. The shadow was dissolved by the multicolored flames.

"That's it?" Chie asked sounding disappointed. "That big and it couldn't even take a hit," the green clad girl added.

"Yeah, you'd think it would at least put up a fight," Kanji pitched in. "Well the bigger they are the harder they fall," the punk said while flexing his arms.

At Kanji's words Viljam started to laugh. "*ehhehee* Says the biggest *kihhih* guy in the group," the Finnish boy managed to say between laughs. Yukiko's face lit up in realization and then she too started laughing. When Kanji needed to subdue Viljam the day before yesterday, it was revealed that Kanji was maybe a few centimetres taller than Viljam.

"HEY!" Kanji cried in protest.

"Well I prefer this over the annoying opponents we had to face up until now," Yosuke pitched in, ignoring the three's antics. "But where do we go now, this place is a dead end," Yosuke said after looking around. True enough the only door in this room was the one they entered from.

"There was that door we couldn't open earlier," Yu pointed out. "We should check if it's open now," the silverhaired boy added.

"Yeah let's go," Yosuke said, remembering the door that they saw right after they left the stairs. Then he frowned as he checked the two who were still laughing. "As soon as those two stop laughing," the Junes boy sighed.

After a few moments Viljam and Yukiko stopped laughing and the team moved on.

 **(Even later)**

The team had reached the floor where Teddie said that Rise is.

"Is everyone alright," Yu asked his team. They might've been close to Rise now, but he had to be sure that they were able to take on Rise's Shadow if needed. Everyone nodded firmly.

"Good to go," Viljam voiced for everyone.

"Let's do this then," Yu said, before opening the door and entering a large circular room with a pole in the middle of a stage.

"There it is," Chie said while pointing at Rise's shadow that was standing on the stage.

"The real one's here too," Yosuke pointed out. Sure enough the real Rise was also there not far from the shadow.

As the gang approached the stage, the shadow turned it's attention to them with a laugh. " **They're all watching! All eyes are on me now,** " the shadow said with a creepy smile.

"Stop it!" the real Rise cried.

That caused the shadow to turn it's attention to Rise. " **Aww. What's the matter,** " the shadow asked with mock concern. " **You wanna show your stuff, don'tcha,** " the shadow mocked. " **How's this,** " The shadow then said. before it started pole dancing.

The guys of the team had various reactions to this. Yosuke was mesmerized by the shadows dancing. Yu gritted his teeth while glancing at the real Rise in concern. Kanji's face went red. And Viljam...was covering his eyes.

"Please...stop this," Rise pleaded, not wanting to see herself like this.

The shadow chuckled at Rise's words. " **She want's me to stop? As if that's even close to what you're thinking you little skank,** " the shadow mocked Rise with a hateful tone at the latter sentence. " **You're me and obviously I'm you,** " the shadow then said, ringing warning bells in the gang's heads.

"We gotta stop this before that thing goes berserk," Yosuke said quickly. Before even waiting for the others to respond Yosuke tried jumping on the stage. Only to faceplant into an invisible wall.

"What? A wall," Chie asked in disbelief.

"Lemme handle this," Kanji said before smacking the invisible wall, but it didn't do anything. "Dammit! Take Mikazuchi!" Kanji summoned his persona to destroy the wall, but even Take's brute strength didn't break it.

"Does this mean, we can't stop this," Yukiko asked with worry.

While the gang realized that they couldn't get through this wall, Rise's shadow had continued it's taunting.

" **Come on look! You can't turn your eyes away! This is me this is who I really am,** " the shadow taunted again. " **Not Risette the fake celebrity! Look at the girl right in front of you,** " the shadow continued. " **I'm sick of being some airheaded cliche who chokes down everything she's fed and takes it all with a smile,** " the shadow ranted. " **Risette? Who the hell is she? There's no such person in this world,** " the shadow continued.

"So it was true," Yu muttered earning the rest of the team's attention. "She really was worried about her 'real' self," the silver-haired boy said.

"I guess she got tired of people not seeing her for her," Viljam said surprising everyone at his observation.

" **I'm no one but myself. Come on look at me,** " the shadow taunted Rise again.

"That's not- I," Rise stuttered unable to think straight.

The shadow gained a wicked grin. " **Well then, I guess it's time to prove it. I'm gonna show all off,** " the shadow said, causing the gang to have wide eyes. Except Viljam covered his own again, expecting the worst. " **Let my naked truth be burned into your brains,** " the shadow said, while tugging at it's bikini straps like it was about to take it off.

"STOP IT!" Rise yelled. "You're...".

"Don't say it!" Chie yelled, knowing what Rise was about to say. They all did.

"You're not me!" Rise yelled at her shadow.

At this the shadow started to laugh maniacally. " **Here it comes! Now I can finally be myself,** " The shadow cheered, before it transformed. The form it took was a large female figure with different neon colors. It had Rise's hair and what looked like a satellite dish for a face.

"Tch. Here we go," Kanji said and with that everyone prepared for battle.

Yosuke quickly swiped his hand over the area where the invisible wall was. "Guys! The wall is gone! We can move in now," Yosuke informed everyone and they moved in.

"Teddie, we'll leave Rise-chan to you," Yukiko said to the bear, who gave a salute and prepared to move Rise away from the shadow the moment it was distracted.

" **I am a shadow. The true self,** " Shadow Rise said. " **And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. I'm going to show every last inch of myself,** " the shadow said seductively. " **And for our guest in the front... I'll give you extra-special service,** " The shadow added.

"WHAT! Does that thing have a thing for you, partner," Yosuke exclaimed. Because out of all of them, Yu was the one that was in the front. Needless to say, Yu was a little disturbed at a monster liking him.

" **And maybe for the cute one in the back,** " the shadow added out of nowhere, which made Viljam squeak in fear. After all he was currently the furthest in the back.

"No thanks," Viljam said nervously.

"Was I like this too...," Kanji asked wondering about his own shadow when it went berserk. "Oh man," the punk said.

"Less talking, more shadow whooping," Chie exclaimed before summoning Tomoe to swipe at the shadow. The shadow narrowly avoided the attack, only to be struck by Izanagi.

"Konohana Sakuya!" Yukiko called out her persona to cast Agilao.

"Louhi! Rakunda!" Viljam called his persona to lower the shadows defenses.

"Jiraiya! Garula!" Yosuke called out taking advantage of the damage.

"Gdon! Power Charge!" Yu called out, charging up.

"Kill Rush!" Kanji called out.

"This is easy," Chie said, seeing the damage they had done to the shadow so far.

" **Ohhoho. Maybe you're looking for an experience that's a little more intense,** " the shadow laughed before sending a green light at them.

Everyone prepared to block whatever this was, but after the light passed them, nothing happened.

"Uhh. What just happened," Kanji questioned.

"Nothing happened to any of you," Teddie called from behind the stage, where he had also moved Rise.

"Well then, let's finish this quickly," Yukiko said, before firing another Agilao, but the shadow dodged it. "Huh?" Yukiko exclaimed.

Kanji sent a Zionga at the shadow, but it danced around it. " The heck!".

"Entäs tämä," Viljam said as Louhi cast a Bufula, but the results were the same.

Izanagi then tried to slash the shadow, only to have it's blade caught between the shadows palms. While the thing was upside-down no less.

" **Time for my counter attack,** " the shadow said before using Garu against Izanagi, knocking the persona away and by extension Yu.

"Nousku-kun," Yukiko shouted. Viljam didn't need to know what the girl was thinking.

"Let's do it," the Finnish boy exclaimed before moving to perform Twin Arcana. However as soon as their personas appeared, Shadow Rise used both Agi and Bufu against them, effectively stopping them.

"Yukiko! Nousku-kun," Chie cried in concern. "You're so dead," the girl shouted before rushing in and attempted to kick the shadow. Only for the thing to do a flip on the pole it was dancing on and kicking Chie away.

"Teddie what's going on," Yosuke shouted at the bear. "Why can't we hit that thing anymore?".

"I don't know," the bear said in panick. The poor bear has been wracking his head for an answer but nothing came up.

"That light," Yu muttered. "It started avoiding our attacks when it used it," the silverhaired boy said. Yu quickly switched personas, but before the fearless leader could even launch an attack, Shadow Rise struck him with the very weakness that particular persona had.

"Narukami-kun!(Senpai!)" Chie, Yukiko and Kanji shouted in unison.

"It hit Yu-san's weakness, before he even summoned it," Viljam said in disbelief.

Yu got up with some difficulty. "Everyone, we must attack it simultaneously," the silverhaired boy said quickly. With those words, everyone summoned their personas, hoping that at least one of them could get a hit in.

Shadow Rise giggled, before unleashing six attacks simultaneously, each of the attribute their targets were weak against. Now the entire party was downed. " **One more,** " the shadow announced before attacking again. This time everyone tried to dodge out of the way, but the attacks were aimed at the very spot they moved to. This time they were actually flung off the stage.

"Guys!" Teddie cried in panic.

Everyone got up, but they were not exactly okay.

"Urgh. We can't hit it, we can't dodge! How're we supposed to win," Chie shouted in frustration.

"It's like it knows our every move," Yosuke added in.

The shadow released the light it used earlier.

"That power," Teddie said. "I think it's scanning us. Oh no this is not good," the bear whimpered.

"When you say, 'not good' what exactly does that mean," Kanji asked, not liking what the bear was implying.

" **Analysis complete,** " Shadow Rise suddenly cheered. " **See if you can dodge this,** " the shadow mocked before releasing another attack that hit all of the gangs weaknesses. Although Yukiko was able to use Mediarama to heal them, they were still hurt even worse.

"This isn't... fair," Viljam said, unable to stand anymore.

"A-are we... going to die," Yukiko asked in fear.

Teddie became even more panicked. "NO! You guys can't die!" the bear cried in distress. "I don't want to be alone again," Teddie wailed.

Yu turned towards Teddie. "Teddie, take Rise and get out of here," the silver haired boy shouted to the bear.

" No! I can't abandon you guys!" Teddie wailed while shaking his head rapidly. Then the bear stepped in front of the others.

"Teddie what're you doing," Yosuke shouted.

"Wh-why am I stepping forward," the bear questioned his own actions.

"Teddie, you can't take that thing...," Yu's words died as he saw the bear starting to glow. "Teddie, what's happening to you," Yu asked now worried.

Teddie started to glow brighter. "I. I think I'm going bear-serk," Teddie said before the glow turned into a flaming aura.

" **What's this high energy reading!?** "Shadow Rise questioned. **"Is it coming from that weird thing,** " the shadow wondered with worry.

"Teddie! The hell are you doing!?" Kanji shouted

"ROOOAAAWWR!" Teddie roared before jumping at Shadow Rise.

"TEDDIE!" Everyone yelled, before a bright flash forced them to shield their eyes.

When everyone were able to open their eyes again, they saw that Shadow Rise had reverted and looked unconcious. More importantly they saw Teddie on the floor, looking worse for wear. Seeing the bears condition, everyone forced themselves on their feet before running to the bear.

"Teddie, you okay," Viljam asked with worry.

"You could've died, you idiot," Kanji scolded the bear, though he was relieved to see the bear still alive.

"Did I... Did I help," Teddie asked weakly. His body was singed from here and there and there were a few tears, from which cotton threatened to come out. But the weirdest thing was, that somehow Teddie had become paper thin.

"Help?" Yosuke asked in disbelief. "You saved us," the Junes boy said.

"Neat...," the bear said as cheerfully as he could, given his condition. "I'm so glad... I didn't want to be alone anymore," Teddie said with relief.

"Teddie," Chie said with worry.

Teddie then managed to stand up with some effort, though how he was able to do that when he was paper thin, was beyond anyone. Then Teddie took a look at himself. "Wh-What in the world," the bear cried after seeing his state. "Nooo.." the bear wailed in misery. "My fine silky fur... I was so proud of it! WAAH!" the bear cried, which earned blanched looks from most of the team.

"You could've died and you're worried about your fur," Viljam voiced what everyone was thinking.

"Looks like he's going to be just fine," Yosuke shrugged. "...I guess," Yosuke added and with that everyone moved to Rise, who had been at a safe distance this whole time thanks to Teddie. Teddie was left behind.

"Rise-chan," Yukiko called to the teen idol, who was just regaining conciousness.

"Mmh...Where... am I," Rise asked. Then she remembered what happened. "I'm sorry... It's all my fault," the girl said sadly.

"It's not your fault," Yu said reassuringly.

"Maybe, but this was still done by 'me'," Rise said, before getting up and walking to her shadow that had finally opened it's eyes. "I'm sorry... You must've been in a lot of pain up to now," Rise said to her shadow. "You're a part of me that, but I kept refusing to admit that you exist," the girl continued. "I kept trying to figure out who the real me was, but I was on the wrong track. There is no real me," Rise said.

"There's...no real me," Teddie muttered from the side.

"You... Me... Even Risette... They're all me," Rise said.

With those words, Rise's shadow transformed. The form it took was a female figure with pitch black skin. Wearing a white dress. It's head looked to have a satellite dish, much more complicated than it's berserk form. It was also holding what looked like a crown with both hands. This is Rise's persona, Himiko.

After Himiko faded away, Rise turned back to others. Then the exhaustion took it's toll, but thankfully Yu caught her. "Are you alright, Rise-san," Yu asked in concern.

"I'm alright," Rise assured the silverhaired boy. Then a look of realization dawned on her face, when she recognized Yu. "Oh. You're the one who came to the store," the former idol said.

"Yeah, and these three came with me," Yu said while motioning towards the other three guys.

Rise glanced at the other three, before hes eyes fell upon Yosuke. "Oh yes, you're the guy who was put in his place," Rise said with a weak giggle.

At the mention of being "put in his place", Yosuke gave a light glare at the Finnish. "I was following orders," Viljam weakly defended.

Ignoring the two, Yu briefly introduced himself and the others.

"Thank you all," was all Rise could think of saying right now.

"We'll explain everything later, but for now we-," Chie's words died in her mouth when she turned around.

"What's wrong Chie," Yukiko asked the green clad girl, before her gaze fell upon what Chie was looking at.

"There's... no real me?" Teddie repeated Rise's words with an odd tone.

At this moment everyone else turned to the flattened bear. "What's wrong Teddie," Viljam asked the bear.

"There's... no real me?" Teddie repeated oblivious to others.

"H-hey Teddie," Kanji called the bear a little weirded out at the bear's behavior.

"No! Get back," Rise exclaimed startling everyone. "Something's coming out of him," Rise said.

"What," Yosuke asked.

" **Real? Me?** " Said a much more sinister version of Teddie's voice. Then a larger and much creepier version of Teddie appeared behind the flattened bear.

"What is that," Yosuke exclaimed at the sight.

"Don't tell me," Chie started as a certain thought came to mind. "Is that the other Teddie? Teddie's hidden thoughts," Chie questioned.

"I believe so, but I felt some a powerful presence intervene," Rise said, earnign Yu's attention.

"What do you mean, you 'felt'," The silverhaired boy asked.

However, Teddie finally got out of his inner monologue to see everyone's faces. "What's going on," the bear asked, while looking at everyone. Then Teddie realized that they were looking behind him, so he turned around to see. "W-Whoa!" Teddie exclaimed after seeing the creepy version of himself.

" **The truth is unattainable,** " The other Teddie said. " **It will always be shrouded in fog** ," the thing continued.

"What the heck is that thing talking about," Kanji exclaimed, not getting what the thing was babbling about.

" **Though you reach out through the murk and gloom to grasp something, you have no means to know it is the truth...,** " The other Teddie said, ignoring Kanji. " **In which case, why? What sense is there in yearning the truth,** " The shadow continued. " **Close your eyes. Lie to yourself. Live in blissful ignorance. It is a much smarter way to exist,** " the thing said.

"Wh-What're you talking about!? I don't understand a word you're saying," Teddie stuttered. " You're just making it sound difficult because I'm not that smart," Teddie then retorted. "Maybe you just can't tell, but I'm thinking as hard as I can," Teddie shouted while patting his head for emphasis.

The other Teddie actually looked amused. " **It is those efforts that I'm calling futile. You are hollow. empty,** " the thing said, giving Teddie an exclamation mark at the words." **At your core, you know this, but you just cannot accept it. So you seek an alternate form... a denial of your true nature,** " the thing continued, causing Teddie more distress. " **You have no lost memories. If you have forgotten anything, it is this truth,** " The other Teddie said, which made Teddie want to cry.

"Th-That's a lie," Teddie said sadly.

" **Shall I spell it out for you? You are but a mere-** ," "I SAID SHUT UP!" Teddie interrupted his other self, before charging at it. Unfortunately the bear was easily swatted away.

"TEDDIE!" Yukiko cried out.

The other Teddie turned back to the rest of the team. " **It is the same for you all. You undergo suffering, because of your search for the truth. How can you find something, when you do not know what it is you're searching for,** " the thing said mockingly.

Yu let go of Rise, before stepping forward. "What do you mean by that," Yu asked the thing, which only chuckled at the question.

" **I never tire of observing fools like yourselves. Then I will grant you one truth: You will all die here,** " The other Teddie said, before it began to transform. " **You sought the truth, only to find Death**."

Yosuke gritted his teeth as he saw the other Teddie transform. "Dammit! How're we supposed to fight something like this without Teddie," Yosuke said worriedly as he took a glance at the bear that was knocked out from being swatted.

" It's alright, get ready everyone," Rise said with newfound determination.

This earned a shocked look from others. "Hey!" Chie exclaimed in disbelief. "Don't tell me you're going to fight with us! You can't take it," the green clad girl said in concern. Rise just got her persona, she shouldn't be well enough for combat.

"I'm okay, I should be able to take that bear's place," Rise said, before summoning her persona. Rise's persona quickly put the crown looking thing she was holding over Rise's eyes. "It's my turn to save you all," the former idol said.

Yu nodded. "Alright then. Guys keep that thing away from Rise-san," Yu said, to which everyone else nodded and readied themselves for battle.

By this time, Shadow Teddie had finished it's transformation. It had grown gigantic, but it was in some kind of hole. It's hands had grown claws and the face was cracked, with pieces missing. " **I am a shadow... The true self... I shall give you the 'truth' you all claim to hold so dear. The inescapable fact of your death here!** " Shadow Teddie said menacingly.

"Was that thing really inside our Teddie," Chie wondered, still having a hard time believing that a monster like this was lurking within the hyperactive bear they call a friend.

"Guess he was more troubled than we thought," Yosuke said, feeling somewhat guilty for dismissing Teddie's worries.

"We can all apologize to him, once we beat this thing," Kanji said before summoning his persona to attack.

Shadow Teddie smacked Take away, but that only staggered the massive persona. " **Foolish beings. Accept your death with dignity and grace,** " the monster taunted them.

"Ei huvita," Viljam said, summoning Louhi as Yu and Chie also summoned their personas.

"BUFULA!"

"BLACK SPOT!"

"ZIONGA!"

All three attacks connected and Shadow Teddie cried in pain. " **MARAKUNDA!** " the shadow cast a spell on the party.

"You're defense has been lowered, be careful," Rise warned from the sidelines.

Viljam answered with a Tarunda to lower the shadow's attack. "That should even the odds a little," the Finnish boy said, as Yosuke gave Yu a Sukukaja, While Yukiko fired Agilao on the shadow.

The shadow slammed the ground causing a shockwave that hit the party. Others endured it, but Viljam was downed from the attack, for the attack was physical.

Chie quickly ran towards the downed boy. "Come on get up," the green clad girl said as she pulled him up.

"Sorry," Viljam apologized.

" **MIND CHARGE!** " the shadow focused.

"It's going for a big attack!" Rise warned everyone.

"Brace yourselves," Yu ordered and everyone did as they were told.

" **MABUFULA!** " And there came the ice spell. Thankfully the party was able to guard against most of it. As soon as the attack had passed Yukiko used Mediarama to heal everyone.

" **FOOLISH WHISPER!** " Everyone was prepared for whatever would happen next. When none of them felt any different, they thought that the shadow failed.

"Yukiko-san's and Kanji-kun's personas have been sealed," Rise warned them.

"Say what!?" Yosuke exclaimed. Kanji wasn't much of a problem, but Yukiko is their healer.

Yukiko too would've yelled something, but she couldn't make a sound.

"Guess, we have to be more careful until they recover," Viljam muttered.

Shadow Teddie then lifted it's left paw and started to charge energy into it.

"What's it doing this time," Yosuke asked, having a bad feeling about this.

"It's charging another attack! Don't try to dodge, just block it," Rise answered.

"Block!? You're asking us to block something like that?," Kanji shouted in disbelief, before he realized something. "Hey! My voice is back," Kanji exclaimed.

This caused everyone to glance at Yukiko hopefully, but the black haired girl only shook her head. Her voice was still gone.

"Here it comes," Yu suddenly shouted. Everyone braced themselves to block the attack.

" **NIHIL HAND!** " Shadow Teddie swiped it's paw, sending an energy wave at the party.

"Huh? That didn't hurt at all," Chie said, wondering how she was unhurt. As was everyone else.

"You'd think an attack like that would at least leave a mark," Yosuke also pointed out.

"It's TV World, don't question it," Viljam reminded him, before recasting Tarunda on Shadow Teddie.

"That would be best for our sanity," Yu agreed, as he used a Mind Charged Agilao against Shadow Teddie.

" **Why do you keep struggling. Even should you win, naught but suffering awaits you,** " Shadow Teddie questioned the party, before casting another Mabufula.

The Party was able to take it, with Viljam stepping in front of Yukiko to take the hit for her too with gritted teeth.

"Nousku-kun!" Yukiko shouted. Then she realized her voice was back. Which means..."MEDIARAMA!".

"Perfect timing, Yukiko," Chie cheered, before hitting the shadow with another Black Spot.

The shadow was preparing to charge another Nihil Hand. "Here it comes again," Kanji said.

Yu had a light bulb go off in his head. "Nousku, come here for a moment," the silverhaired boy called and Viljam came to him. Yu whispered something in Viljam's ear which made the Finnish boy's eyes widen, before an evil smile appeared on his face.

"Oh! Great idea," Viljam said, before turning to Chie and Kanji. "Chie-san, Kanji, come with me," the Finnish boy called them.

"What? Why," Chie questioned. Kanji too had a questioning look.

"Don't ask just go," Yu ordered and without further ado, the two bruisers went with Viljam.

The three had ran around Shadow Teddie to a point where they were closest to the charging hand. "Ok guys, the moment the sickle sticks, summon your personas and help me yank," Viljam informed them before spinning the sickle end of his weapon to gather momentum.

" What good is that gonna do," Chie questioned. "Wouldn't we just pull the hand right on top of us," the green clad girl asked. It was true, in the position they were in the hand would be yanked right on top of them.

"That's not the plan, we're just stopping it from swiping," Viljam explained before throwing the sickle at the hand and the blade stuck in. "Alright, I got it. TAKE IT AWAY, YU-SAN!" Viljam shouted the last part towards Yu, who immediately cast a Mind Charge.

"Amagi, at my signal fire your strongest spell at it's hand with me," Yu said to the red clad girl, who only prepared herself in response.

While this was happening Shadow Teddie was ready to swipe, but Chie and Kanji summoned their personas to grab the chain of Viljam's weapon and pulled with all their might.

" **What!?** " The shadow exclaimed. It didn't think the three humans even with their personas had the strength to stop it from swiping. While the two personas were struggling to hold the hand, Viljam cast Rakunda on the shadow in preparation of what's to come.

"NOW!" Yu shouted and fired a Zionga with Izanagi, followed by Yukiko's Agilao. As a result of two spells, the energy gathered into the hand exploded, taking the shadow's hand.

" **RRRRRAAAAAAAAGHHH!** " the thing cried in pain.

"It's weakened! Finish it off," Rise cheered.

With that everyone ordered their personas for one more assault.

Louhi and Konohana Sakuya fired their respective elemental attacks. Take Mikazuchi punched Shadow Teddie straight in the face causing cracks in it's face. Tomoe kicked a different area of the face causing more cracks. Jiraiya threw his shurikens into the cracks causing the face to shatter completely, revealing black mass behind it. Izanagi stabbed the black mass, which caused the shadow to revert.

"We did it!" Chie cheered offering a high five, which Viljam responded immediately.

"Yeah, but is Teddie alright," Yukiko wondered as she turned towards the direction the flattened bear was flung earlier. Everyone rushed to the bear's location, except Yu who helped Rise to stay standing.

"Teddie, you okay," Kanji asked the flattened bear, who regained conciousness.

"Even you had a hidden side," Chie half asked the bear, who looked down in shame.

Viljam looked guilty for some reason. "Teddie, I'm sorry about falling asleep when you were pouring your heart out. I know that saying it now is a little late, but I hope you won't hate me for it," The Finnish boy apologized to the bear. Now that it was revealed that Teddie had a hidden side, Viljam felt bad for not even considering that the bear could be genuinely troubled, when he took an impromptu nap.

The bear in question looked grateful at the Finnish boy's words before actually hugging him. This act earned slightly widened eyes from others, Viljam on the other hand just hugged the flattened bear back lightly. Then they released the hug. Teddie then turned towards his shadow. "I...don't know who I am...," The bear said with difficulty, the shadow only stared back blankly. "I've thought a number of times... that maybe there is no answer. But I'm here I live here" Teddie continued.

By this time Yu had reached Teddie while supporting Rise lightly," Teddie, I'm sure the answer is out there somewhere. Waiting for you to find it," the silverhaired boy said reassuringly, earning Teddie's attention.

"Sensei... Will I really find it," Teddie asked with hope, gaining a firm nod from Yu as a result.

"Dude, we'll help you figure it out," Yosuke added in.

Yukiko too felt like she needed to say something," I'm sure well find out more about you as we continue investigating this world.".

Teddie glanced at everyone who all had a look of support on their faces. "You guys...,"Teddie said, like he was on the verge of tears. "I'm such a lucky bear," Teddie managed to say before he started crying. Actually crying. At this moment, Teddie's shadow began to glow blue, which earned shocked looks from others. Then the shadow transformed.

The form it took was a spherical red mechanical thing with stubby arms and legs with a closed hatch on it's body. It wore a blue cape and was carrying a Tomahawk missile. This is Teddie's persona, Kintoki Douji.

As the persona faded, Teddie could only stare the area it once occupied in wonder. "Is this my persona?" the flattened bear asked in wonder.

"I can sense a strong power from it," Rise said weakly. "It's awesome, Teddie," Rise was able to say, before she slumped, forcing Yu to carry all of her weight.

Now everyone were concerned. "Whoah you okay," Chie asked, before remembering something. "Oh, crap. Your persona has just awoken, you must be completely worn out," the green clad girl said with concern.

"I'm alright," Rise said tiredly.

Yu shook his head. "No you're not. Let's get you out of here," the silverhaired boy said and with that, they went to leave the TV world.

 **(TV World[lobby]. few minutes later)**

"Are you sure you're okay," Yukiko asked Rise.

"Yes. I'm more worried about Teddie," Rise replied.

"You okay there, Ted," Kanji asked Teddie, who despite being in the banged state he was, seemed to be relatively alright.

"I wanna be alone for a while," Teddie said, surprising everyone.

"Why," Yosuke asked with slight concern.

"My beautiful fur is all rough and coarse, and my nose hasn't been working too well either," Teddie explained before dropping down. "So until my fur grows back, I'm gonna train hard," Teddie said with determination as he began to do sit ups.

"What's gotten into you," Yosuke asked not sure how to react.

"Dont. Talk. To me. Please," Teddie grunted as he continued his training.

"Leave the dude be," Kanji sighed. "There comes a time when a man has to stand on his own two feet," the punk said.

"I guess," Viljam muttered. "Do your best, Teddie," Viljam encouraged Teddie.

"Chie and I can take Rise-chan home," Yukiko told Yu, who was still supporting the girl.

Yu thought for a moment. "Okay, I'm counting on you two," Yu said before passing Rise to Yukiko and Chie.

"On another note," Viljam then spoke. "I'm just happy we're out of there now," the Finnish boy said with a smile.

Yosuke had a smirk at the comment. "You going to have _sweet_ dreams tonight," the Junes boy joked, emphasizing the word sweet. As soon as Yosuke finished his sentence, he got kicked in the groin by Chie. "Wh-Why!?" Yosuke wailed as he slumped down in pain.

"Because Rise-chan is safe now, so we don't need you," Chie said in annoyance, earning confused looks from others and a hurt one from Yosuke.

Then Viljam remembered the conversation they had yesterday. "Oh right! I did tell you to hold the punishment until we rescued Rise-san," Viljam exclaimed while rubbing his head in embarrassment for forgetting. Now Yosuke had a look of shock on his face.

"You two planned this!?" Yosuke asked in shocked horror from his position.

"That's what you get for trying to corrupt Nousku-kun," Chie said with a huff. " Come on Yukiko, let's get out of here before he does something else. You too, Nousku-kun," Chie said, before assisting Yukiko in taking Rise out of here. Viljam followed suit, after muttering a quick apology to Yosuke. Sure Yosuke might've done something he didn't like, but he still felt sorry for the treatment he received.

"How the heck did I become the victim," Yosuke complained weakly.

"Women are scary," Kanji said, before assisting Yosuke outside.

Yu glanced at Teddie, who didn't stop his training during the commotion. "See you later Teddie," Yu said, before moving to leave.

"I've said this before," Teddie said, regaining Yu's attention. "But I can sense something special about you, Sensei. There must be something that only I can do, that's how I feel when I'm with Sensei," Teddie said between sit ups. "That's why I'm gonna get stronger! To find my special thing," Teddie said with fire in his eyes.

"Do your best," Yu said before moving out. Rise was safe, but the mystery of this case is only deepening. Hopefully the girl can provide some new insight, but for now she needs to rest.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Though I must say, when it comes to word count, this is a new record for me.**

 **(1) Romaji, means japanese words written with alphabets. Handy thing if you can't even read hiragana or katakana.**

 **Translations:**

Tuo kostetaan = **That will be avenged**

Entäs tämä = **How about this**

Ei huvita = **Don't feel like it (or that's the closest thing I can come up with)**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. June 28th. Lunch hour)**

Yu was in a bit of a bad mood. Yesterday evening, when he returned home, Adachi brought his drunken uncle home. According to the younger detective, the higher ups at the police station hired the help from a detective from a well known agency, because of the lack of progress with the murders. This wouldn't be a problem for Dojima if the detective in question wasn't Yu's age. Yu still found that impressive, someone his age working as a detective. Interestingly enough the detective they hired doesn't even care about reward apparantely.

But why was Yu in a foul mood about this? Because Dojima started scolding Yu about "always snooping around crime scenes". For a moment Yu was afraid that his uncle was onto him, but thankfully the hardboiled detective doesn't remember the incident now. Or at least Yu hasn't heard from him. Hopefully his uncle doesn't bring this issue up anymore.

"Something wrong senpai," Kanji asked the silverhaired boy. Yosuke suggested that they would have lunch together to discuss a certain issue. "They" being the guys of the investigation team.

"My uncle came home drunk last night and chewed me out about always being at crime scenes," Yu gave the brief explanation.

Yosuke winced at that. "Ouch. You think he's onto us," Yosuke asked with worry.

"I'm not too sure, but I hope not. I don't feel too good about lying to him," Yu admitted.

"I understand," Viljam chimed in sympathetically. "I mean, when my family asked what I was doing I just told them I hang out with you guys. If they ever found out about our 'activities', who knows how they'll react," the Finnish boy said.

At this moment Yosuke had a serious look. "Speaking of activities," Yosuke began. "What's going on with you, Satonaka and Amagi," Yosuke asked the Finnish boy.

"Yosuke, don't," Yu said, guessing what the Junes boy was about to ask.

However, the plead went to deaf ears. " You three seem awfully close," Yosuke said to the Finnish who raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Yukiko is my host-sister and Chie-san is her best friend," Viljam said like nothing was wrong.

Yosuke scoffed at the answer. "That doesn't answer why _you're_ close with them," Yosuke retorted.

Now Viljam was confused. "Yukiko and Chie-san hang out together alot and sometimes I get dragged in with them," the Finnish said like it was obvious.

Yosuke was slowly getting frustrated. "They're always taking your side when something happens," Yosuke complained, which earned a shocked look from Viljam.

"Ekskuse mua," Viljam asked in shock earning questioning looks from the other guys. "Name one time they 'took my side'," Viljam said, expecting Yosuke to get tongue-tied.

"Let's see: Satonaka told me to stop bullying you, she never scolds you, she and Amagi didn't push you into the river and yesterday she kicked me for waking you up. Lastly you're on the first name base with Amagi," Yosuke listed with his fingers.

"Yosuke, just drop it," Yu tried to defuse the situation, but he was currently being ignored.

" Okay I didn't know about the first one," Viljam admitted. " But she pushed you into the river, because you didn't know when to shut up," Viljam then retorted. "And I'm sorry about the abuse, but Chie-san thought you warped Rise into my head," Viljam then said with trepidation. "And I remember telling, that Yukiko herself insisted on being called by first name," Viljam said, before sighing. "Sheesh, what is up with Japanese not addressing each other by first name," the Finnish boy complained.

Yu decided to get in between the two, before this escalated. " Yosuke, as much as I hate to admit it, he's right about us being pushed into the river," Yu said before turning towards Viljam. "Nousku, it was me you told about the first name basis the other day, not Yosuke," Yu reminded the Finnish boy, who had a look of realization on his face at that. "Also, I'm pretty sure there are situations where Finnish don't address each other so casually," Yu said taking a small gamble.

Viljam opened his mouth to say something, before he looked thoughtful. "You're right," Viljam admitted. "But we're not some foreign business partners, so is it too much to ask that you guys addressed me by my name," Viljam asked. "If I hadn't studied some basics of Japanese culture I'd think that you barely tolerate me," the Finnish boy then said, trying to sound joking. Key word "tried".

"Whoawhoawhoa! Don't change the subject!" Yosuke protested. "The problem is, whenever the girls get angry at us, you always get away unscathed," the Junes boy protested.

"When we caught that weirdo, he got slapped," Kanji pointed out, which earned a look of shocked betrayal from Yosuke and a grateful one from Viljam.

Yu too had something to say. "Also he apologized about Satonaka-san kicking you," the silver-haired boy said sternly.

"I was barely able to tell her to hold the punishment until we rescued Rise, hoping that she would forget the incident, but then you reminded her," Viljam explained.

Yosuke sighed in defeat. "Fine, but anyway, did you sleep well," Yosuke asked teasingly.

It didn't take a genious to figure out what Yosuke meant with that. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Viljam deadpanned.

At this moment, Chie decided to arrive. "Hey guys, in case you don't know class will start again soon," the green clad girl informed cheerfully, before she took note of Yu being between Viljam and Yosuke, like a barrier. "Is Hanamura trying to bully Nousku-kun again," Chie asked suspiciously.

"No," Viljam said, surprising the other guys. "We were just talking about things," the Finnish boy added as casually as he could. Chie looked a little suspicious, but then she shrugged and left the guys.

"Why did you do that," Yosuke asked Viljam, who answered with a weird look. "You practically protected me," Yosuke clarified.

"You faced enough suffering to last for next few weeks if you ask me," Viljam said simply. "Just promise me, you won't put any weird thoughts into my head again," Viljam then said.

"Sure," Yosuke shrugged, before earning a devious look. "Or, I could just tell Satonaka the actual contents of your wake up call," Yosuke snickered. This time, color drained from Viljam's face.

"No! If you do that, Chie-san will hate me," Viljam pleaded.

"Yosuke you can't be serious," Yu pitched in, not wanting to believe the headphone wearing boy would try blackmailing.

"Wouldn't Chie-senpai beat the crap out of you too, for weaving it into his head," Kanji questioned Yosuke, which earned him a surprised glance from the other three, before Yosuke sighed in disappointment. Kanji didn't know the details of what was whispered into Viljam's ear, but the context of this conversation was pretty good indication of the topic.

"You just had to spoil it," Yosuke complained. "I'm not stupid, my skin is on the line just as much as his is," Yosuke said acknowledging that Chie would probably beat them both, if she ever found out the truth. "Oh well. We just have to make sure that this topic goes to our graves," Yosuke then sighed.

"My lips are sealed," Yu told Yosuke. "And I'm sure Kanji's are too," Yu said while turning towards the first year.

"Huh? Uhh.. sure," Kanji said unsurely. Apparantely that was good enough, because Viljam and Yosuke released a sigh of relief.

With that the four guys hurried back into their class.

 **(Junes, June 28th, After School)**

Yu had basketball club today, so Yosuke decided to hang out with Viljam instead. The Finnish boy was very suspicious of this at first, but Yosuke was able to convince him. So far the two had just talked about this and that, but then the conversation turned to Viljam getting used to the countryside. The Finnish boy looked confused at the mention of countryside. Upon further probing, it was revealed that Viljam's idea of a countryside was a tiny village, which can only be reached with a bus.

"*pfft* So Hyvinkää doesn't have a store as big as Junes," Yosuke asked while trying to imagine the Finnish boy's home. "And you think that's not countryside," the Junes boy added with amusement.

Viljam smiled at that. "Nope. Though there have been plans of two of the largest stores becoming part of one big shopping center," Viljam said. "It was scheduled to be ready by next year, so I'm looking forward to see how it looks when I get back," Viljam explained.

Yosuke nodded in undersanding. "So how far away is your home from any big cities," Yosuke asked out of curiosity.

Viljam smiled at the question. "Helsinki, that's our capital, is less than an hour away by train," the Finnish boy said. "Actually, most of the major cities are within two hour trip away by car," the Finnish boy explained. "That's why I like to say, that Hyvinkää is at the center of everything," Viljam added happily.

Yosuke actually frowned at that. "Lucky you," Yosuke said with a hint of jealousy. "So, how often do the trains move," Yosuke then asked.

"Twice in an hour," Viljam said simply. Now Yosuke felt more jealous, the Finnish boy might've been from a small town, but he still had free access to big cities.

"Have you gone to big cities often," Yosuke then decided to ask.

Viljam thought for a moment. "Mostly, when I needed to go clothes shopping. My mom and sisters always did the browsing, while I just said if I felt comfortable in them," Viljam explained.

Now Yosuke had a smirk at that. "So during clothes shopping you were just a dress up doll," Yosuke snickered, earning a glare from Viljam.

"Don't call me that," Viljam retorted with surprising harshness.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, sorry," Yosuke said dismissively, though he now remembered where the dress up doll comment came from. "Say, how did you learn Japanese with a learning disorder," Yosuke then asked, getting curious about how someone with a hampered learning ability learned such a complicated language so well.

"Hard work, determination and lots and lots of motivation," Viljam replied, emphasizing motivation.

Yosuke nodded at that. "What was the motivation," Yosuke then asked.

"I played a game with an option for Japanese voices. I got interested and decided to study it," the Finnish boy explained. "Of course I understood nothing of the voices the first time. Then when I played the game again after studying, I understood enough to know when the English subtitles didn't match," Viljam explained fondly.

Yosuke found some new respect for the Finnish boy. "And you said that you're not very smart," Yosuke joked.

Viljam actually got flustered at the compliment. "C-come on, anyone could've done the same, besides I still have problems with reading," Viljam said in embarrassment.

"Dude, there's a difference with being humble and downplaying yourself," Yosuke said humorously.

"Sorry," Viljam apologized while looking down.

At Viljam's downcast look Yosuke sighed. " _How weak is this guy,_ " the Junes boy thought with exasperation. Thankfully Yosuke decided to change the subject," So... you said you play games," the Junes boy asked, which made Viljam visibly perk up.

The two went into a long conversation about different games.

 **(Okina City. June 28th. Roughly the same time.)**

Chie and Yukiko had decided to do a little clothes shopping today, though for now they hadn't found anything that they really wanted.

"How about this, Yukiko," Chie asked the red clad girl, who was doing some browsing of her own.

"It's nice," Yukiko said, though she wasn't really paying attention. Yukiko was wondering something about Viljam. Yesterday, when Yukiko decided to wish her guest-brother good night, Yukiko saw Viljam clutching his head while wailing something in Finnish. When Yukiko tried asking what was wrong, Viljam assured her that nothing was wrong. She did however catch Viljam mumbling something about "not being good enough".

"Hey Yukiko, how about this one," Chie then called, to her best friend.

"It suits you," Yukiko said.

"You're not even looking," Chie said in annoyance.

Yukiko turned towards Chie, who was standing with her hands on her hips and a stern look. "Okay, what's wrong," Chie said. Yukiko then realized that Chie didn't pick any new clothing to ask her opinion. The green clad girl said it only to see if her best friend was currently there.

"Nothing's wrong," Yukiko tried to deny, but Chie only narrowed her gaze in suspicion. "Chie I'm serious. There's nothing wrong," Yukiko tried her best to sound confident, but her best friend wouldn't budge. "...It's Nousku-kun," Yukiko caved in. Now Chie raised an eyebrow at that.

"What about him," Chie asked.

Yukiko looked unsure of what she should say. "I think he's troubled," Yukiko then said, which confused Chie even more.

"Oh come on, he was probably complaining about whatever Hanamura poured into his head," Chie said dismissively, but Yukiko shook her head.

"No it's something else. He clutched his head while screaming in agony," Yukiko explained, earning a raised eyebrow from Chie. "Then when I asked what was wrong, he had a look of horror on his face, while saying everything was fine," Yukiko said. Now Chie felt mildly disturbed.

"Uhh... Yukiko are you sure you're not overreacting," Chie asked with dread, because for some reason it sounded like Viljam was being possessed by an evil spirit. "I mean, what if you just...I don't know thought wrong," Chie asked, though she had a hard time believing her own words.

"What if there's more wrong in his head than he has told us," Yukiko wondered absently.

"DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT!" Chie cried in horror. Honestly, Yukiko's talk was giving her an image of a psychosis ready to break free.

Yukiko blinked twice at Chie. "Sorry. I just worry," Yukiko said calmly.

Then they were approached by a clerk. "Excuse me ladies, but could be a little more quiet," the clerk said. Chie's little outburst had gained some attention.

"Sorry, we'll be more quiet," Chie said a little flustered at her outburst.

From then on Yukiko and Chie were talking about how to get Viljam to talk. Without further outbursts.

 **(Amagi Inn. June 28th. Evening)**

Yukiko was a little worried. It was getting close to the curfew her parents had set for Viljam, but he hasn't been heard from yet. "Where is he," Yukiko wondered. Her and Chie's plan to get Viljam to talk would need the Finnish boy to actually be here.

The plan was very simple, Yukiko remembered that Viljam loves sweets, so the girls bought a small candy bag to bribe him with. Though now that she was waiting in Viljam's room she was wondering where he was.

Then the door opened and in came a very happy Viljam. "Suoraan päin-Yukiko? What're you doing in my room," Viljam asked the girl, who quickly got up and went right in front of him.

"Nousku-kun, where have you been," Yukiko asked a little annoyed.

"What do you mean," Viljam asked in confusion. "I just got back from Yosuke's place," Viljam said.

Yukiko frowned at the answer. "I meant, why are you so late," Yukiko asked a little annoyed.

Now Viljam looked more confused. "Didn't Kasai-san tell you? I called to notify that I might be a little late," Viljam then asked.

Now Yukiko remembered Kasai telling her something, but she was too focused on finalizing her plan to remember the details.

"I...think she tried," Yukiko said a little embarrassed.

Viljam smiled at that. "So why are you in my room," Viljam asked the girl again, reminding her what she was supposed to do.

"I was wondering... Would you like to talk about yesterday," Yukiko asked carefully, which earned her a sigh.

"Yukiko, I told you it's nothing," Viljam said, with a lot more convincing tone than yesterday.

"No, it wasn't 'nothing'. If it was, you wouldn't have cried in agony or look horrified," Yukiko then said sternly.

Viljam blinked twice in confusion. "...Is that how you saw me?" Viljam asked like he couldn't believe what he was asking. Yukiko nodded in response. At that Viljam started to laugh. "*ehhehehe* Sorry *khhihihihh*," Viljam managed to say between laughs.

"This isn't funny!" Yukiko shouted, which immediately stopped the Finnish boy's laughing and put a look of guilt on his face.

"Sorry. Look I'll tell you what the problem was, but...," Viljam trailed off. Yukiko just waited patiently for the Finnish boy to be able to say his next piece. "...promise me you won't laugh," Viljam was finally able to say. Yukiko raised an eyebrow at that. Laugh? Yukiko still nodded to convey her promise. With that Viljam braced himself. "I've been having withdrawal symptoms from gaming. Yesterday was the peak and when you walked in on it, Ifeltreallyembarrased," Viljam said with increasing speed, which almost made Yukiko miss the last part.

Yukiko blinked a few times as the events of yesterday flew back into her head. Viljam's cries of agony didn't sound so bad anymore, and the look he gave her was that of someone caught doing something embarrassing. Chie was right, Yukiko did overreact. Which is also why Yukiko started to laugh at the whole situation.

"HEY! You promised you wouldn't laugh," Viljam cried, though despite himself Viljam also started laughing nervously.

"*ahhah* Sorry," Yukiko managed to say. "I just thought*ahhahah* that it was something serious," the red clad girl continued.

Now Viljam started to go red with embarrassment. "...I hate you so much right now," Viljam said. That however didn't stop Yukiko's laughing, because this isn't the first time Viljam had uttered that sentence. Also Yukiko easily understood the first time, that he really doesn't mean it.

"Oh right," Yukiko exclaimed as she remembered something. She quickly went to Viljam's couch to pick up the candy bag she was supposed to use to bribe him. "If you forgive me, you can have this," Yukiko said while offering the candy bag.

The Finnish boy gave her a blank stare. "Yukiko, I love sweets, but I'm not so easily bribed," Viljam said almost like he was offended. " Though it might help me stop hating you faster," Viljam said while eyeing the bag.

"Good enough," Yukiko said and with that Viljam took the bag. Then Yukiko moved out, but just before getting out, she had one last question. "What did you and Hanamura-kun do to keep you this late," Yukiko asked more out of curiosity than anything else.

"We were playing games on his console," Viljam answered.

Yukiko hummed in satisfaction that the Finnish boy got some treatment to his withdrawal symptoms, that made her giggle, before moving to her own room.

 **(Yasogami High. June 29th. Early morning)**

Chie was eager to hear if their plan succeeded, but she didn't expect Yukiko to say it with the Finnish boy present.

"So he was complaining about not getting to play games since he left Finland," Chie asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Yukiko answered simply, which made the green clad girl give the Finnish boy a look that said 'Really?'.

"You try living for three months without steak or Kung Fu movies...Or both," Viljam responded to Chie's look.

Chie thought of it for a moment. To say that living would become painful was an understatement. "I can't do that," Chie said understanding where Viljam was coming from.

At that moment Yu and Yosuke arrived to class. "So Nousku, 'mopped the floor with you'," Yu asked Yosuke, earning curious looks from the girls and a cheeky smile from Viljam.

"Hey it wasn't that bad," Yosuke defended.

" Seven victories against three say otherwise," Viljam decided to respond to the headphone wearing boy. "And your three victories came from a game I suck at," Viljam added with a smile, not caring about admitting being horrible at something.

"I still won those," Yosuke tried to defend what little pride he had.

"No arguments there," Viljam said not losing his smile.

"Hey!" Chie shouted earning the boys' attention. "What are you talking about," Chie asked not understanding what they were talking about.

"Like I said before, Yosuke and I played games in his house. I mopped the floor with him," Viljam said proudly.

"Oh come on! Brag around why don't you," Yosuke complained.

"He doesn't have anything to brag if he beat you," Chie snarked at Yosuke.

"HEY!" Yosuke, and strangely Viljam, shouted in unison. Yosuke and Chie were both shocked at the Finnish taking Yosuke's side for a change. "It's not like he was a pushover. There were moments where I won so barely that I couldn't help laughing," Viljam defended Yosuke.

"But you said, you mopped the floor with him," Chie argued.

"Yeah, in the amount of wins," Viljam clarified.

"Satonaka-san, the way you said it made it sound like they both suck," Yu added his comment into the mix. "Besides they both had fun right," the silverhaired boy said while glancing at the other two guys for confirmation.

"Sure," Yosuke shrugged.

"Hell yeah," Viljam cheered.

"Though I could've done without his maniacal laughing," Yosuke then sighed, which made Viljam look down in shame.

"Did I really sound that crazy," Viljam asked with a small voice, earning question marks from others.

"Let's see...,"

 **(Hanamura household. Yesterday)**

Yosuke's father was curious about this boy his son brought in today. He had also heard that it was the rumored exchange student. The one that disappeared for a moment with a girl. He had heard rumors about the boy in question, some more flattering than others.

As mister Hanamura approached his son's room he heard some strange sounds. Someone was laughing. A voice he didn't recognize.

"No! No! Please have mercy!" That was definitely Yosuke. To say mister Hanamura was confused would be an understatement. Why would his son be begging for mercy?

"Time to die sucker!" Was heard next, followed by a maniacal laughter.

"NOOO!" Yosuke cried in horror. That was it! No one was harming his boy, so mister Hanamura rushed in.

"LEAVE YOSUKE AL-What's going on," Mister Hanamura said now calmer as he saw the scene in front of him.

Yosuke was looking at his father with a confused look, Viljam looked like a deer in headlights and on Yosuke's TV was a finished game that marked player two as the winner.

"He beat me in a fighting game," Yosuke said unsurely, not understanding why his dad looked so tense.

And now the pieces fell together, the exchange student had defeated his son in a game, still... "From the outside, it sounded like he was murdering you," mr. Hanamura said to his son with a sigh.

"Dad, Nousku sounds crazier than he is," Yosuke said in Viljam's defense.

"Sorry," Viljam apologized, while looking down in shame.

 **(Back to the present)**

"I said I'm sorry," Viljam said, still a little ashamed about scaring Yosuke's dad like that.

"It's fine, but I have to ask are you always like that when having fun," Yosuke asked.

"No," Viljam said quickly. This earned a raised eyebrow from Yosuke. "Umm...Sometimes?" Viljam corrected. Yosuke crossed his arms. "Fine, even Maria and Linnea think I go insane," Viljam admitted.

Yosuke hummed at the response, before taking his seat, because Morooka will probably appear any second now. Though Yu and the girls were left trying to wrap their head around hearing this side of Viljam.

 **(Samegawa Floodplain. June 29th. After School)**

Chie had planned to train today, but Yu said he had something planned so she expected to do this alone. At least until Viljam offered to accompany her.

"Alright, one more," Chie cheered Viljam on. The boy in question struggled to get one more push up for the day, but he was barely able to do it.

Then he collapsed. "*pant pant* That was rough," Viljam managed to say from the ground.

"No pain no gain," Chie said with a smile. "Besides, you can now do four push ups now. That's progress," Chie said while patting the downed boy's head.

"Yeah, well I think I'm going to sleep early today," Viljam said tiredly, though he didn't make a move to get up yet.

"You're not going to sleep there are you," Chie asked, though she wasn't sure if she was serious or not.

"Just give me a moment," Viljam said, before he finally got up. "Ugghh. Veri ei kierrä kunnolla aivoihin," Viljam grumbled while rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?"

"I said: Blood doesn't circulate in the brains properly," Viljam translated non-chalantly.

Chie had a slightly weirded out look. "Uhh. Nousku-kun, if your brains don't get blood, then how are you standing," Chie asked unsure if Viljam was serious or not.

"I said 'properly', meaning that they don't get enough," Viljam corrected. "Besides I just say that based on how my neck sometimes feels...plugged," Viljam said after searching for the correct word. Then Viljam glanced at Chie. "Chie-san, there's a spider on your shoulder," Viljam said.

Chie nervously glanced at the shoulder Viljam was referring to and sure enough, there was a tiny spider crawling there. When did it get there and how didn't matter to Chie, because..."EEEYAAACK!" Chie screamed and started flailing around like a headless chicken.

Viljam was just staring at the scenario, with his mind attempting to process the information it was receiving. Judging by his face, his mind doesn't compute. By this time Chie's flailing had taken her to the edge of the river. That was when Viljam finally snapped out of it. "CHIE-SAN, STOP!" the Finnish cried, but it was no use. Soon enough Viljam winced as he heard the splash, after Chie tripped. "Chie-san! You okay," Viljam shouted in concern as he ran to her.

The water was only about ankle deep where Chie fell, but she was flat on her stomach and soaking wet as she got up. "Is it gone," Chie asked while shivering, but not because of the water.

Viljam had a disbelieving look. "You fell in the river and you're more worried about some aspider," Viljam asked, confused at Chie's priorities.

"Just tell me it's gone," Chie cried in response, which made Viljam flinch.

"Yeah it's gone," Viljam said. If the spider wasn't shaken off by now, Viljam would be very surprised. "More importantly are you okay," Viljam then asked in concern.

"I'm alright," Chie said with a grin. "It's just...*ACHOO*...water," Chie said.

Now Viljam frowned. "Let's just quickly get you home to dry," Viljam said before he started to tug Chie out of the floodplain.

"Uhh. Nousku-kun do you know where I live," Chie asked, causing Viljam to stop in his tracks.

"No," Viljam admitted in embarrassment.

 **(Chie's house. June 29th. one hour later)**

Part of Chie wished that today would just end, but another wished that Viljam's hug didn't. As Viljam walked Chie to her home, Viljam lightly hugged her when no one was around. When Chie demanded why, Viljam said it was because she looked like she needed one. Well, Viljam did feel warm, so Chie didn't feel like shaking him off. Though it was kinda fun to see some of Viljam's shirt getting wet from it, not that he minded.

Now however, Chie was in her room all dried up and her wet clothes hanged to dry. "How did it come to this," Chie complained a little. Chie was wondering what Viljam was currently thinking about her. More specifically, how she freaked out over a bug. Bugs are one of the few things that creep Chie out big time. Now that Chie thought of it, she should've told Viljam to keep his mouth shut about this. With that Chie decided to take out her phone, which she for her luck wasn't carrying during the training.

Unfortunately the only thing that greeted Chie was Viljam's voicemail. "Why isn't he answering," Chie wondered before trying again. Same result.

"How about Yukiko," Chie then thought, before calling her best friend.

" _Hello, Chie,_ " Yukiko greeted from the other end of the line.

"Hey, Yukiko!" Chie replied cheerfully. "Is Nousku-kun there?"

" _Yes he is. Why?_ " Yukiko said.

"Can you get him? I tried calling him, but he doesn't respond," Chie asked.

" _Why do you need to talk to him? Is it something urgent,_ " Yukiko asked out of curiosity, which made the brown haired girl flinch. Chie was afraid that Yukiko would either laugh at her or worry for nothing, if she told the truth.

"I... wanted to ask him if... he wanted... to train with me again sometime," Chie quickly came up with an excuse.

" _Okay. Hold on a moment,_ " Yukiko then said, followed by a long silence on her end.

"Yukiko, are you still there," Chie asked, wondering if the line got cut or something.

" _Yes I just arrived to his room,_ " Yukiko responded, and then Chie heard Yukiko calling to Viljam, several times actually. " _Nousku-kun I'm coming in,_ " Chie barely heard Yukiko saying. Then Chie heard something like 'aww' from Yukiko's side.

"What? What's going on," Chie asked.

" _Nousku-kun is sleeping,_ " Yukiko said, surprising Chie. Then Chie remembered that Viljam did say he was going to go to bed early. Still it was still bright outside, so he shouldn't be that tired yet. " _Do you want me to wake him up,_ " Yukiko asked.

"No it's fine," Chie said. As much as she wanted to be sure that Viljam wouldn't talk about her embarrassing escapade, the boy had earned his rest. "Sorry to bother you," Chie said to the phone.

" _Don't worry about it,_ " Yukiko said.

With that they hung up, however Chie decided to send Viljam a text that tells him not talk about today. Hopefully he would see it, before he talked to anyone. Honestly, it's bad enough for Chie that Yu saw her freak out over a bug. Except she didn't fall in the river that time. Also, while Yu had called Chie's reaction cute, she wasn't certain that Viljam would think the same. Chie laughed at the last one. Since when did she care about what Viljam thought of her?

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **This chapter may be a little filler-esque(did I say that correctly?), but I hope you can bear with me. Also don't expect me to update next week, because I will be on winter holiday and I don't have enough time to write between skiing, playing badminton and playing boardgames with my folks. I'll update when I can.**

 **Fun fact of the day: I've been brainstorming some ideas for Persona Q, I'm not going to write those yet. Or if I do, I won't post them just yet.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 **AN:**

 **(Yasogami High. June 30th. Lunch hour)**

Thankfully for Chie, Viljam did get the text and promised to not tell anyone. Though he had to comment on the self taught martial artist being worse than his little sister.

Right now though VIljam was eating his boxed lunch on the roof with Chie. Strangely, Yukiko wasn't with them this time.

"Am I really worse than your little sister," Chie couldn't help but ask.

"Even Linnea doesn't freak out that much over a spider," Viljam responded simply. "Though whenever she sees a spider or a bug in the house, she instantly cries for me or Maria to kill it," Viljam added in amusement from remembering one such incident.

Chie was almost offended at that. Why? Because the way Viljam spoke of it gave her a mental image of the youngest Nousku sibling cowering behind her brother in fear and Viljam being smug about it. "And you don't mind bugs right," Chie said with slight annoyance, keeping the image in question to herself.

Viljam opened his mouth to speak, but then looked embarrassed for a moment as he remembered a little something. "Anything with a deadly stinger scares me," Viljam admitted.

"You don't have to try and make me feel better," Chie sighed, thinking that the Finnish boy was making it up.

"I'm serious. I have an asthma if you don't remember. There's a chance that a single sting can cause my air pipe to swell shut," Viljam retorted.

Chie found the thought of getting suffocated from a bug sting very scary, but she still doubted Viljam was serious. Then she heard a buzzing sound and saw a lone bee not far away from Viljam.

The Finnish boy froze at the sound. "Please tell me it's just a fly," Viljam said in a scared tone.

"It's a bee," Chie deadpanned. The kung fu loving girl's blank expression switched to one of incredulity, when she heard a sound that almost sounded like a whimper.

"I can't stay here," Viljam said quickly before running away from the possible health hazard. Chie would've laughed if the flying bug hadn't seemed to take an interest in her. Needless to say, she too bolted back inside. Little did they know that certain something will make the next few moments of Viljam's life problematic.

 **(Yasogami High[nurse's office]. June 30th. Few minutes later)**

"We were informed about your asthma, but I didn't think it was this serious," the school nurse said to the wheezing Viljam, who's breathing finally settled.

"*wheeze* I've never had a coughing fit this bad before," Viljam said with a raspy voice, before drinking some water that he was given. Anything to get rid of the taste of blood in his throat, plus it made his throat feel slightly better.

"Ebihara-kun shouldn't have worn a perfume like that," the nurse said while shaking her head.

After Viljam and Chie escaped the bee, they decided to head to their class. On their way, they passed Ai Ebihara, which caused Viljam to have the most violent coughing fit Chie had ever seen. Even after the Finnish boy took a wiff of his inhalator, his breathing refused to settle. This drew a bit of a crowd around them, including the rest of the Investigation Team. With their help, Viljam was moved to the nurses office.

"Serves her right," Chie mumbled, while rubbing Viljam's back soothingly.

"Chie," Yukiko scolded. "She couldn't have known that her perfume would trigger an asthma attack," the red clad girl added. As Viljam's host-sister she got very scared at seeing him coughing his lungs out(figuratively speaking of course). If it wasn't for Yu, Yukiko and Chie wouldn't have calmed enough to take him to the nurse's office.

"Girls, I'm fine now," Viljam said reassuringly, though his voice was still a little raspy, so they weren't exactly convinced. "Besides, did you see the look on Ebihara-san's face," Viljam then said, with a slight laugh.

 **(Earlier)**

As Yu and Chie were steadying Viljam who couldn't even stand properly, due to his coughing, Ai came in to see what the commotion was about. "What's going on here," the beautiful blonde that was the manager of the basketball club asked Yu.

"He's having an asthma attack," Yu told the blonde.

"*cough* *cough* Could you please*cough* stay away from me*cough*," Viljam managed to tell the girl while doing shooing motion with his hand.

"Why," Ai asked not understanding why the exchange student wanted her to leave.

"*cough* It's your smell," Viljam managed to say.

"WHAT!?" the blonde shrieked in fury, before storming at Viljam. She didn't get far though, because Yu moved in to keep her away from Viljam.

"Get him to the nurse's office, quick," Yu shouted while trying to hold Ai back. The girl in question flailing her arms like she was trying to claw her way forward.

"Alright partner. Just try not tot die," Yosuke partly joked, before assisting Chie in moving Viljam.

"Out of the way people," Kanji shouted. "Sick person coming through!". This made people disperse, though more out of fear of Kanji than to let Chie, Yosuke and Viljam through. While this happened, Yukiko was trying to soothe Viljam by telling him "It's okay.".

 **(Back to the present)**

Chie giggled at the memory. "You're right. That was funny," Chie said while trying and failing to hold her laughter. Yukiko too laughed, though not her usual laughing fit.

Viljam also laughed a bit, but he was interrupted by a few coughs. "Sorry, I shouldnt've laughed," the Finnish apologized.

The nurse also frowned. "You better not agitate your lungs until your voice sounds normal at least," the nurse said sternly. Then she turned towards the two girls. "You two should go to classes now," the nurse then said to the two girls.

"But what about Nousku-kun," Yukiko asked in concern.

"I will send him to class as soon as I'm sure he doesn't start coughing again," the nurse said, but Yukiko wasn't entirely convinced.

"I'll be fine, I'll catch up with you soon," Viljam said reassuringly after noticing Yukiko's worried expression.

The girls were a little reluctant, but they knew they should probably be in class by now. "We'll see you later then, Nousku-kun," Chie said. Then she quickly patted Viljam's head before running off, missing Viljam's protest at the treatment. Yukiko soon followed although still worried about her guest-brother's health.

 **(Yasogami High. June 30th. After School)**

Yu looked at the lobby of Yasogami High, searching for a certain individual. When the said individual wasn't there, Yu motioned someone to follow him. It was Viljam and Yukiko.

"Get your shoes on quickly," Yu urged as he followed his own advice. In Japanese schools there are shoe lockers assigned to each student where they put their shoes in until they return to their homes.

Viljam and Yukiko quickly put their shoes on as Yu's phone beeped. The silverhaired boy checked his phone to see that it was a message from Chie saying, "All clear.".

"Satonaka-san reported that Ebihara-san is nowhere in sight," Yu informed the other two.

"That's good," Yukiko said with relief. Earlier in the day, Yu had some dire news: Ai Ebihara threatened to get Viljam after school. Today was basketball club though, she had to attend that, but Yu knew her well enough to know that she will find an excuse to slip to unleash her fury on Viljam. So before that happens they needed to smuggle the Finnish boy out of here. Why were they so scared of one girl? Well, they were afraid that if she got near Viljam again, he would go into another coughing fit.

"Okay let's get out of here," Viljam said after tying his shoelaces. "I've tasted enough blood in my throat.". The other two weren't sure if they should feel concerned at Viljam saying something like that so casually. They decided to shrug it off and just focus on getting him out of here.

Yu peeked outside to see if the angry blonde was outside. No sign of her. "Okay once you get out of the school grounds you should be safe," Yu told the two who nodded. "I need to go to the basketball club today, so hopefully I can warn you if she leaves early," Yu then said.

"Thanks," Viljam said and with that Yu went to the club and Viljam and Yukiko ran to the gates, where Chie was waiting.

"No sign of her, let's get out before she actually kills Nousku-kun," Chie said and with that they jogged away.

 **(Basketball club. Roughly the same time.)**

Yu had just arrived to the club, where Kou and the other club members were preparing to practice.

"Ahh. Narukami, I was wondering if you were coming," Kou said with some relief.

"Well here I am," Yu said, though he took note that Ai wasn't in sight. "Where's Ebihara-san," Yu asked.

"Who knows, she disappeared a while ago," Kou said with a sigh. Yu did not like the sound of that.

" _I have to warn them,_ " Yu thought before getting out his phone to quickly call Viljam. Only to be greeted by his voicemail. " _Amagi-san?_ " Yu then tried.

Thankfully, Yukiko picked up. " _Hello,_ " Yukiko said from the other end of the line.

"Amagi-san, I just heard that Ebihara-san hasn't been seen. Be careful," Yu quickly said to the phone, while Kou looked on, utterly confused.

" _Oh, thank you for warning us,_ " Yukiko said. " _I hope she won't find us,_ " the red clad girl then muttered with worry.

"It's fine. Besides, I'm sure Satonaka-san can protect him," Yu said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Judging by Yukiko's giggle, it worked.

" _You're right. See you later,_ " Yukiko said before hanging up.

"Who is Satonaka-san going to protect," Kou asked in suspicion.

Now Yu mentally slapped himself. He had forgotten that Kou had a crush on Chie. "Uhh. No one," Yu said weakly, unable to come up with a decent lie.

"Is it the exchange student? Does that mean the rumors are true," Kou asked with a hint of panic.

Yu resisted a sigh. The rumors about Viljam being together with Yukiko and Chie have been persistent. Actually, when did the rumors warp into the Finnish boy dating both of them at the same time? "No. Amagi-san told me that Viljam treats her like a sister," Yu said with exasperation. How many times has he had to explain this to someone again?

"What about Satonaka-san," Kou asked.

"They're not dating as far as I know," Yu said. Unfortunately that caused Kou to have exclamation marks.

"As far as you know," Kou said in suspicion. Yu slapped himself mentally again. He could've worded it better.

" _This could be a problem,_ " Yu thought to himself.

 **(With the girls and Viljam. June 30th. few hours later)**

Currently Chie and Yukiko were executing a brilliant plan to hide Viljam. They were shopping in Okina city. The girls thought that Ai wouldn't search for him here, and besides why would Viljam go shopping with two girls willingly. Well, the truth is, he was practically dragged with them.

"Hey Nousku-kun, wanna try this one," Chie asked while showing a t-shirt with yellow and green stripes. The Finnish looked at the clothing like it had offended him.

"No," Viljam said firmly.

"Oh come on, you've been rejecting every single one we suggested," Chie complained. True enough, they have suggested Viljam try on some clothes for guys that were there, but unfortunately the Finnish boy was less than eager.

"Those colors are too bright," Viljam said for the umpteenth time today.

"What's wrong with that? You have white shirts," Chie said remembering the few times she's seen Viljam in casual clothes.

"Yes, but the shirts you offer can't look good on me," Viljam retorted, giving Chie a tick mark.

"Did you just say that I have no fashion sense," Chie asked dangerously.

Viljam's resolve was now shattered. He just stepped on a minefield. Now he had to pick his next words very carefully, lest he gets a taste of Chie's leg power. "No, it's just... that shirt has the same colors as your jacket," Viljam said the first thing that made sense to him.

At that, Chie checked the green jacket she had tied around her waist. "So it does," Chie said with wonder. "Maybe I wasn't thinking of you when I picked this," Chie said absent mindedly. Then she left to put the shirt away, while Viljam sighed in relief.

"Hey Nousku-kun, I think this would be perfect for you," Yukiko said while showing Viljam a black shirt with red text on the front. Viljam quickly red the text, but then he did a double take and red it again. Then he bursted into laughter, while Yukiko became confused. "Umm... Did I miss something," the black haired girl wondered.

"*ehheheh* Sorry*kihihihhhiii*," Viljam said through his laughter, which didn't do anything to clear the confusion. After a few moments Viljam was able to calm himself, while Yukiko was staring at him curiously. Catching onto the curiosity, Viljam decided to explain, "Okay, a long story short: My dad came into my room to check on me, it was dark outside and I didn't have lights on in my room. I was playing with my handheld and he asked:'What lord of darkness lurks here.'.".

Yukiko tilted her head at the explanation. "What does that have to do with this shirt," Yukiko asked, still confused. Viljam responded by pointing at the text. Yukiko checked the shirt and saw that the text said, "The Lord of Darkness Lurks Here". Then it clicked and Yukiko bursted into the same kind of laughter Viljam was in moments ago, with the Finnish boy joining her.

"What's going on here," asked a confused/annoyed Chie. She also looked around and noticed that those two were currently drawing some attention.

"*ehheh* I want this one," Viljam managed to say.

"*ahhaha* Okay," Yukiko said too, while Chie just looked on with double question marks.

"I don't get either of you sometimes," Chie complained with a sigh.

"You're so cute," Viljam said, which made Chie snap at attention.

"Wh-huh!? Don't say things like that out of nowhere," Chie nearly shrieked with a light blush on her cheeks.

"Why not?" Viljam asked with a confused look.

"People might get the wrong idea," Chie said while looking around. Too many eyes were currently on them.

"Doesn't matter, you're still cute," Viljam said with a too wide smile. Then he turned his attention to Yukiko, "I'm going to go buy this," Viljam said, before taking the shirt from Yukiko and moving to the cashier.

"Stupid, Nousku-kun," Chie grumbled, once the guy was out of earshot.

"But he's not wrong," Yukiko said, still amused at the story of his life.

"Oh please, he can't be serious," Chie said dismissively. "I mean, why would he call someone like me... cute," Chie said, but couldn't help but blush on the last word. She wasn't used to guys complementing her like that and now Viljam seemed to do that whenever he damn pleased.

"Maybe he likes you," Yukiko said like it wasn't a big deal.

"Don't joke about that!" Chie did not agree with her best friend. "It's just not possible. I'm not feminine, I eat more than most guys, I can probably beat them up too and I'm not...girly," Chie rambled, which made Yukiko giggle.

"Chie, you are cute and Nousku-kun thinks that too," Yukiko then said seriously. "Also he did call you pretty at the camp out," Yukiko said, which made Chie blush more at the memory. Not just being called pretty, but the fact that it was like he was defending her.

Chie quickly shook her head. " No no no. It was because...," Chie trailed off, unable to come up with a retort.

"Sorry if I took long," Viljam said causing Chie to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Nousku-kun, why do you always sneak up on people!" the girl shouted, causing Viljam to flinch.

"I don't know. It's not like I'm trying," the Finnish boy defended. "And what's made you so angry," Viljam then asked a with slight concern.

"Yukiko said something stupid," was all Chie could think of, which made Viljam look at Yukiko questioningly.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Yukiko said with a smile.

"Okay?" Viljam said unsurely. "Anyway, should we start heading back," Viljam said. After all it was getting late.

Yukiko and Chie checked their phones. "Oh crap!" Chie exclaimed. "The next train is gonna leave soon! Let's run for it," Chie shouted and grabbed Viljam's hand before running towards the station, with Yukiko right behind them and Viljam weakly protesting about getting dragged.

However, when the three exited a certain blonde who happened to hear the girls' conversation had a devious grin. "So, the exchange student might like Satonaka. Maybe I could take advantage of that," Ai said evily and rubbed her hands together for the effect. To think that she just came here so she could forget the insult she had received. Yu did explain that it was because of his asthma that he had a coughing fit when smelling her perfume. That perfume was supposed to "Leave a man breathless", although Viljam's reaction wasn't what she had in mind. Besides it was supposed to attract Kou, but after the little incident, Ai washed the perfume off and swore she would never trust a commercial again.

But now she found her chance, Ai was aware of Kou's crush on Chie, but she swore she would have him one way or another. Now the opportunity has presented itself. If Chie started dating the exchange student, then Kou would give up on her and then Ai would have no more competition. "But how would I get those two together," Ai muttered in thought. Then she smirked. "I think I know someone who is more than willing to help me," Ai said.

Around that time Yu felt a sudden chill.

 **(Chie's house. June 30th. Evening)**

As much as Chie wanted to dismiss Yukiko's words today, she couldn't stop wondering if it was true. Would Viljam really like her?

Chie went over what little she knew. He's easy to hold a conversation with, but then again, Chie can hold a conversation with pretty much anyone. He has complimented her a few times, but on the first day he said that he does that with his sisters all the time. Then again, he's been complementing more than usual. He doesn't do that just because he can, right?

"URRGGH. I can't believe I'm actually considering this," Chie griped at her current train of thought. "And why do I even care," Chie then questioned herself. It's not like she likes him or anything. Now Chie slapped herself, that last thought sounded so stupid. "Get a hold of yourself," Chie shouted at herself. "No guy finds me attractive," Chie told herself. But then she remembered that Viljam was not like most guys, for better or worse. Now Chie felt she was going crazy and just wanted to forget what happened today.

Chie decided to watch Trial of the Dragon to get her mind off of this. Although halfway through the movie she wondered if Viljam would like this.

 **(Yasogami High. July 1st. Early morning)**

"Are you sure Ebihara-san won't kill him the moment she sees him," Yosuke asked Yu. The two guys were a little worried about Ai wanting to kill Viljam today.

"I hope she has calmed down enough to not do that," Yu responded. Though what worried him was that he got a text from her asking him to meet her during lunch hour.

"I'm not gonna let her near Nousku-kun," Chie said confidently, yesterdays problems off her for now.

"Were counting on you Satonaka," Yosuke said with a knowing look.

"What's that look for," Chie asked not liking Yosuke's look.

Before Yosuke could answer, Yukiko and Viljam came in. "Good morning," Yukiko said politely.

"...morning," Viljam mumbled tiredly.

"What's wrong? Not sleeping well," Yosuke asked as he took notice of the bags under his eyes, which were also black.

"No I didn't," Viljam said. "I woke up to a nightmare and couldn't sleep again," Viljam said, while glaring at Yukiko, but the black haired girl didn't notice.

"Did something happen to you," Yu asked noting the glare Viljam was giving.

It was Yukiko who decided to answer, "I think Nousku-kun had a nightmare about Ebihara-san.". This earned her a pointed glare from Viljam, but his host-sister remained oblivious to it.

 **(Lunch hour)**

Chie had asked Yukiko about yesterday and it turns out that Yukiko watched one of her favorite horror movies with Viljam. This gave Chie a striking suspicion that Viljam had a nightmare about that movie, not Ai.

Now however, she was looking for the boy. Why? Because class will begin soon and no one has heard from him. Yosuke idly wondered if he fell asleep somewhere. That was all coercing Chie needed to go look for him. After checking the hallways, she went to the roof to check if he was there.

Sure enough, there Viljam was, leaning against the fence fast asleep. "*sigh* Of course he's sleeping," Chie sighed before moving to wake him up. Until she remembered what happened last time. Chie did NOT want to be locked in a hug in a place where someone could see them and get the wrong idea. Chie's musings were interrupted when she noticed Viljam's face contorting in his sleep. Curious about this Chie took a closer look and noticed that his arms had goosebumps and now he was twitching.

"Nousku-kun! Wake up!" Chie yelled as she realized that he was having another nightmare. But the Finnish boy didn't react. "WAKE UP!" Chie yelled again, but with equal success. "URRGGHH!" Chie griped before taking the risk and started shaking him violently.

"UWAbubwua!" Was Viljam's incoherent cry of awakening, before he frantically looked around. " Pelkkä painajainen," Viljam sighed in relief, before noticing Chie standing over him. "Did you wake me up," Viljam asked.

"You looked like you were having a nightmare," Chie said with slight worry. Despite being awake, Viljam still looked terrified. "Was it about the horror movie Yukiko had you watch," Chie then asked causing Viljam to snap at attention.

"Yukiko told you," Viljam said with a small voice.

"Yup," Chie said while ruffling Viljam's head, while the Finnish boy looked unamused at the treatment. "But there's nothing to be ashamed about it, I mean I can't stand creepy things at all," Chie said with a smile.

That made Viljam feel a little better. "I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like horror," Viljam said while getting up, though his legs were a little unsteady.

"Don't tell me your legs feel weak from a nightmare," Chie teased, which made Viljam blush, refusing to answer that. Unfortunately this action made Viljam look like a pouting child to Chie right now, which of course made her laugh.

"Stop laughing," Viljam said, getting more embarrassed by the second.

"*pfft* Sorry, but you look so cute right now," Chie said with a smirk, which made Viljam more flustered. "Come on Nousku-kun classes are starting," the green clad girl said before going on ahead.

After a few moments Viljam snapped out of his stupor and followed suit.

 **(Samegawa floodplain. July School)**

Chie was training with Yu today, because Yosuke had demanded a rematch from the Finnish boy. How did she convince Yu to train with her? Yu actually asked to hang out with her today and Chie had the idea of getting some training done.

Though the real reason Chie wanted to train was to get her mind off of her little blunder with Viljam. " _Why did I have to call him cute,_ " the self taught martial artist griped in her head as she practiced a double kick. She didn't even realize that she called him cute, before getting back to class.

"Satonaka-san, do you think Viljam's grown stronger," Yu suddenly asked, causing Chie to stumble a little.

Quickly gathering her wits, Chie gave an answer. "Yeah, he can do four push ups now," the green clad girl said, remembering how he barely made the fourth one last time.

"That's good," Yu nodded. "And has he had any coughing fits," the silverhaired boy then asked.

Chie thought of it for a moment. "No we always take a break when he starts wheezing," Chie said, though Viljam did start coughing a little at times.

"Good thing you have taken his condition into account," Yu said encouragingly.

"Had to do that, when he tried to hide it," Chie then said.

"Hide it?"

"Yeah, he tried to hide losing his breath when he was worried about holding me back," Chie then said. "But I gave him a stern talking to," the green clad girl said with pride.

"He's lucky to have you as a friend," Yu then said with a smile. "And we know he thinks you're pretty," Yu said, causing Chie to flinch.

"Whuh!? W-where did that come from!?" Chie cried, before donning a suspicious look. "Did Yukiko put you up to this," Chie asked with a frown.

Yu raised an eyebrow at the mention of Yukiko. "No, why would you think that," Yu asked genuinely curious.

"Never mind," Chie said. "I think were done here," Chie said, before running off desperate to get out of this situation.

Once Chie was out of sight Yu sighed at his little mistake. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the last one," Yu muttered to himself. He only said that to see what kind of reaction Chie would have. "Why did Ebihara-san have to drag me into this," Yu sighed, although he knew the answer already.

 **(Flashback)**

"There you are," Ai said after spotting Yu approaching her. "What took you so long," the girl asked with a huff.

"Sorry," Yu said simply. He had long learned that Ai isn't as unpleasant as she might seem.

"Nevermind, I need your help with something," Ai said dismissively.

"Ebihara-san, I already found out for you, who Kou-san likes. I can't do anything about who it is," Yu said patiently.

"No! Nothing like that," Ai said in annoyance. "I want you to help me get Satonaka and the exchange student together," Ai said surprising the silverhaired boy.

"What?"

"You heard me. I want to get Satonaka to date that exchange student," Ai clarified her words.

"Why?"

Now Ai looked very annoyed. "You're so slow! I heard from a reliable source that the exchange student might like Satonaka," Ai explained slowly.

Yu was about to ask why the girl wanted to play matchmaker, but then it clicked. "If you get Satonaka-san to date Viljam, then Kou-san would have to get over her, and that means you could get him," Yu summarized Ai's motive.

"Exactly!" Ai exclaimed happily. "I knew you would get it," the blonde girl said with a smile.

Yu resisted a sigh at that. "What I don't understand is, what do you want me to do about it," Yu asked.

"I'm glad you asked. I want you to figure out if Satonaka likes him, then I want you to confirm the exchange students feelings before we start hatching a plan," Ai said, while having a smug smile at her "brilliant plan".

 **(Back to the present)**

Yu of course tried to refuse, but then Ai started look depressed, while looking at the direction of the school's roof. Yu caught onto it and agreed to help, not wanting to risk Ai trying to jump off the roof again.

Unfortunately, Yu wasn't certain if Chie liked Viljam. Sure she looked flustered when mentioning what he said once. But then again, Yu has noticed that anything that complements Chie as a girl would get her like that.

As for Viljam, he would need to talk to him next, though he wasn't sure how.

* * *

 **An: I can't help but feel that I could've started this little side plot differently, but I for the life of me I can't figure out how... Oh well, as we say in Finland: Näillä mennään(We'll go with these).**

 **Also I didn't bother putting the translation for a single phrase, because I think it's easy to figure out. Apologies to anyone who can't.**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 **AN: First: I'm sorry for being gone so long. My computer's CPU fan system shattered. In the end, had to replace the whole motherboard among other things. Second: Sorry for being such a short chapter, but the story should pick up from here on.**

* * *

 **(Junes. July 2nd. After School)**

"So Ebihara-san's forcing you to play matchmaker," Yosuke asked in disbelief. Throughout the day, Yu had started to have conflicting thoughts. What if Viljam doesn't like Chie that way, or even if he does, does he have any right to meddle in this.

Sadly for the silverhaired boy, Yosuke noticed his worried expression during the day and asked what was wrong. Yu initially said nothing was wrong, but the Junes boy didn't buy it.

So here they were Yu having explained his little dilemma. "Essentially, yes," Yu sighed.

"Ouch," Yosuke winced. "What did she have over you again," Yosuke then asked not knowing what made Yu go with it.

Yu looked around to make sure no one was around. "She might jump off the roof if I don't," Yu whispered to Yosuke who's eyes widened.

"Seriously," Yosuke asked in mix of shock and disbelief. Yu nodded. "...That girl has issues," was all Yosuke could comment.

"She's not a bad person, but I think it would be easier if she jut told Kou-san how she feels," Yu said. "Then again, Kou-san won't probably return them right now," the silverhaired boy added with a sigh.

"That could be a problem," Yosuke admitted. "Sorry, but I can't help with Viljam. I was too focused on getting payback on him yesterday," Yosuke sighed.

"Oh yeah, you did challenge him to a rematch," Yu said, glad to have his mind off of his problem for the moment. "How did it go," Yu asked with a slight smile.

"He seemed nervous during some games, so I must've driven him into a corner a few times," Yosuke said. Then his face fell a little, "But I still couldn't win.".

" Don't give up. One day you might beat him," Yu said encouragingly.

"You just wait and see," Yosuke said confidently. Then a light bulb went off in his head. "I just remembered, there's a kung fu movie in Okina city tomorrow," Yosuke exclaimed. "What if we got them to go on a date there," Yosuke suggested.

"I know Satonaka-san likes Kung Fu movies, but what about Viljam," Yu wondered sceptically. "Do you have something that tells you he likes action movies," the silverhaired boy questioned.

Yosuke had a smirk at that. "Considering how he reacts whenever he pulls a super move in fighting games, yeah I think he does," Yosuke said, remembering how the Finnish sometimes pulls epic one-liners...well, epic in _his_ opinion.

Yu had a question mark at how Viljam might react, but decided to question it later and focus on the matter at hand. " Alright so we now know he won't hate it, but now we need to figure out how to get them to go together," Yu mumbled thoughtfully.

"Why not call Satonaka and tell her about the movie," Yosuke suggested, earning a look from Yu that said "Are you an idiot?". "I'm not saying we should just tell her ' Hey there's a movie why not ask Viljam for a date'," Yosuke said clearly offended at Yu questioning his intelligence.

"Sorry," Yu apologized halfheartedly. "Anyway, we need to figure out how to tell her about the movie and maybe throw a hint about going with someone," the silverhaired boy said. And from there, they started to plan their little matchmaking operation. Though Yu still wondered if he should meddle with this. This escapade could end badly, for all he knew.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 3rd. Morning)**

"Sorry, Chie, but I'm busy today," Yukiko sighed into the phone.

" _It's fine, I'll just go by myself then,_ " Chie said, but Yukiko knew better. Chie was definitely disappointed.

Then the lightbulb went off in the black haired girl's head. "How about asking Nousku-kun to go with you," Yukiko asked.

" _Huh? If you're busy helping at the Inn, won't he be buys too,_ " Chie asked in confusion.

"It's fine," Yukiko said with a smile. "I'll talk my parents into letting him go," Yukiko said confidently. Sure the Inn will be busy today, but Viljam's absence shouldn't make that much difference.

" _...Well, if he wants to,_ " Chie said unsurely.

"I'm sure he will. I'll ask him to call you back. Is that alright," Yukiko said.

" _...Okay then,_ " Chie said after a moment.

"Well then, I'll see you later Chie," Yukiko then said to the phone before hanging up. Then Yukiko started to make her way to Viljam's room. On her way though, her phone started to ring. "Huh? Narukami-kun," Yukiko wondered, before answering, "Hello.".

" _Good morning Amagi-san_ ," Yu replied. " _Did Satonaka-san call you today by any chance,_ " Yu asked.

"Yes, why," Yukiko asked.

" _No real reason, but... Are you busy today,_ " Yu then asked, which made question marks appear on Yukiko.

"Sorry, but I will be too busy with the Inn today. Why do you ask," Yukiko asked, getting a little suspicious.

" _No reason. Sorry to bother you,_ " Yu said quickly before hanging up, leaving Yukiko confused.

" _What was that about?_ " Yukiko thought.

 **(Junes. July 3rd. Roughly the same time)**

"Are you sure, she didn't get suspicious," Yosuke couldn't help but ask.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was," Yu sighed. He seriously could've checked whether Yukiko was going with Chie a little differently, but sadly nothing better came to mind.

"Did you at least figure out her schedule today," Yosuke asked switching the subject.

"She said she will be busy at the Inn," Yu replied. Earlier, the two realized a flaw with their plan. What if Chie asks Yukiko instead of Viljam.

"Well, sounds like that's one less problem, but doesn't this mean that Viljam will also be busy," Yosuke then said.

"Let's just wait and see," Yu said confidently. Soon they would go to the train station to see if their plan succeeded. If it did, both Viljam and Chie should appear.

 **(Chie's house. July 3rd. Roughly the same time)**

Chie felt nervous. It would be nice to see that movie with someone, but she wasn't sure if Viljam of all people wanted to see it. After all, she never asked what kinds of movies he likes. Or if he watches them at all.

As soon as the last thought finished, Chie's phone rang. "Hello," Chie answered the phone.

" _Hello, Chie-san. Viljam here,_ " Viljam greeted from the other end. " _Yukiko mentioned that there was a movie you wanted to see with someone. Is it true,_ " the Finnish boy asked.

Chie felt at ease at Viljam's casual tone. "Yeah. I mean it would be more fun to see a movie with a friend than alone," Chie responded." I mean, you don't have to come if you don't want to," Chie hastily added.

After a few moments of silence, during which Chie wondered if she said something wrong, Viljam spoke, " _What time is it?_ ".

"Huh?"

" _When does the movie start,_ " Viljam clarified.

 **(Okina City. July 3rd. Afternoon)**

Unfortunately for Chie she noticed something in front of the movie theater. When she checked the theater, turns out that she had the date wrong. The movie she wanted to see would be shown next week. Now she felt really stupid.

"Is something wrong," Viljam asked nervous looking Chie.

"No nothing," Chie said nervously, which didn't convince Viljam at all.

"Are you sure," Viljam asked getting worried.

"Yes!" Chie exclaimed louder than she intended. "I mean, nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong," Chie tried to convince Viljam with little success.

"Because you mixed up the dates," Viljam said in a dead-pan tone, which made Chie freeze.

"How did you know!?"

VIljam smiled at Chie's flustered reply. "Because I can read," Viljam said while pointing behind her. There in bold letters was, "Today's movie" and right under it was Dumminator II, which wasn't the movie Chie wanted to see.

Now Chie slumped. "I was so looking forward to it, but then Hanamura had to tell me the wrong date," Chie said sadly.

"Yosuke did," Viljam asked curiously.

"That liar," Chie murmured loud enough for Viljam to hear. "Next time I see him, he's dead meat," the green clad girl added.

"Maybe he was just wrong," Viljam said hoping to save Yosuke. "I mean, I doubt he'd do something this bad on purpose."

"Maybe you're right," Chie sighed. "I still don't like someone playing with my feelings," the kung fu loving girl said. Viljam resisted laughing with all his might, due to the image that gave him.

"Can we watch that movie instead," Viljam asked referring to the movie that was on today. "I mean, it's not the one you wanted to see, but it looks interesting," the Finnish boy said.

"Sure," Chie said in a better mood, but she wasn't exactly thrilled right now.

 **(Okina city. July 3rd. After the movie)**

"That was awesome," Chie cheered. Sure the movie wasn't what she had planned, but at least it was a sci-fi movie with great action.

"Oh yeah," Viljam agreed with a happy look. "The story was less predictable than I thought and the action scenes were awesome," Viljam said happily.

"I know right. The sounds and the visuals are just so different on the big screen," Chie said. "Whenever the next explosion happened, I couldn't help jumping in my seat," Chie said while shivering with the excitement.

"Yeah," Viljam said simply, still smiling.

"We should do this again sometime," Chie then said happily, to which Viljam nodded.

"Like next week, when the movie you originally wanted to see will be shown," Viljam said helpfully.

"It's a date," Chie exclaimed and then froze when she realized what she just said. "W-Wait! T-That's not what I meant! I mean...," Chie tried to correct herself in vain. "...Sorry," Chie was able to say in embarrassment.

"... It's fine," Viljam managed to say in a small voice. "I mean, you weren't serious about it, right?" Viljam said unsurely.

"Yeah, I was just...saying whatever came to mind," Chie said, though her face was still a little red at her embarrassing outburst. "So uhh... We should probably head back now," Chie quickly said. Viljam just nodded, before the two moved.

 **(Inaba shopping district. July 3rd. Some time later)**

"How do you think their date went," Yosuke said trying to get his mind off of a certain incident that happened in Junes.

Yu, not wishing to pursue the issue, decided to go with it, "I doubt we can call that a date, but we'll just have to wait and see how they react around each other tomorrow," Yu said simply.

"Do you think they held hands," Yosuke wondered aloud. "Or better yet, cuddle in the theater," Yosuke snickered as he tried to imagine Chie being cuddly.

"Considering that it's not a romantic movie... No, I highly doubt, they would," Yu said while shaking his head.

"Killjoy," Yosuke mock scolded.

"I call it being realistic," Yu responded without missing a beat.

"Yeah, you're right," Yosuke said with just a bit of disappointment. "Still. Are you sure you can't tell Ebihara-san to give up," the Junes boy then asked.

"I have thought of that for a while now actually, but...," Yu trailed off as he noticed Chie approaching them.

"What's-OW!" Yosuke cried and started hopping on one leg, as one of them was now injured.

"That's for giving false information," Chie huffed before walking away.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!" Yosuke cried, while sitting down on a nearby bench. But Chie didn't answer and just kept walking. "What the heck is wrong with her," Yosuke whined as he nursed his abused leg.

"Good question," Yu replied unhelpfully. "Can you stand," the silverhaired boy then asked, hoping that Chie didn't cripple the Junes boy.

"Yeah. I just need to sit for a moment. I'm just happy she doesn't kick hard enough to break bone," Yosuke said.

Yu stared at his friend in disbelief at that statement. "I don't know if I should be relieved or worried about you taking this in stride," the silverhaired boy said while shaking his head.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 3rd. Evening)**

As soon as Viljam got back in the Inn, he was asked to help. Viljam honestly didn't want to help, but he did anyway. During this time, Yukiko had asked about how the movie went, but Viljam only had enough time to give one word answers, before they had to move again.

Now however, Yukiko was in Viljam's room discussing about the Finnish boy's day in more detail. "Poor Chie," Yukiko said sympathetically after hearing she was fed false information.

"Yeah. She must've really looked forward to that movie," Viljam said with equal sympathy. "So we watched the sci-fi movie that was on instead," the Finnish boy added. "And it was AWESOME," Viljam nearly shrieked the last one, causing Yukiko to laugh a little at his enthusiasm.

"Is sci-fi your favorite genre," Yukiko asked curiously.

"Nope. My absolute favorite genre is fantasy," Viljam said, before looking thoughtful. "Well, a sci-fi fantasy would be truly wonderful, but still," Viljam said almost absentmindedly.

"What about the movie Chie wanted to see," Yukiko asked.

"We agreed to see it next weekend," Viljam said. "I mean, from what she told me, the movie contains fantasy elements. So I have high expectations," Viljam said happily.

Yukiko couldn't help but smile at her guest-brother's enthusiasm. " I hope your date goes well," Yukiko said happily, which made Viljam flinch.

"I-it's not a date," Viljam stuttered.

"Oh," Yukiko simply said.

"I should probably report to my family now," Viljam quickly said before fishing out his laptop.

Yukiko decided to leave after hearing that. She knew that Viljam doesn't mind having her around, but that didn't matter. This was Viljam's time with his real family. That made Yukiko think. Viljam will return to Finland in spring, just like Yu will return to the city. Though unlike Yu, Viljam will be unable to visit. Yukiko quickly shook her head at the thought. That was still a long time away.

 **(Yasogami High. July 4th. After School)**

"What do you mean you're going to stop," asked an indignant Ai from Yu.

Yu knew this was coming, but he had already made up his mind, after hearing from Viljam about the date being wrong with the movie. That also explained what Chie meant about false information. Back to the matter at hand, Yu decided to stop meddling with Chie's and Viljam's (non-existing) love life, but Ai wasn't taking it well. "Just what I said, I won't be trying to set them up anymore," Yu explained calmly.

"But what about me," Ai said angrily. "If Satonaka isn't taken, then Kou-kun will never even consider me," the blonde complained.

Yu sighed at this. As much as he had patience with Ai's current behavior, even he was tempted to say something he might regret. "Look they're off to a good start. If I start meddling too much, they might catch on," Yu tried explaining. "Besides, you have more time with Kou-san so use it," the silver haired boy then said, hoping that Ai would catch onto his logic.

No such luck. "How am I supposed to make him notice me, when all he can think of is Satonaka," Ai cried before stomping away angrily.

Before Yu could move to stop Ai, he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Yu slowly turned around in fear, coming face to face with Yukiko.

"What was that about," Yukiko asked sweetly, but she might as well have issued a threat. How much did she hear?

"Ebihara-san forced me into trying to set up Viljam and Satonaka-san. Today I backed out," Yu came clean.

"I thought I heard something like that," Yukiko said with a less threatening demeanor. "Is that why you tried to make sure that Chie wouldn't invite me to the movies," the black haired girl then asked.

Despite knowing that Yukiko wasn't exactly gullible, Yu was still surprised that she figured him out. " Guess I was a little obvious," the silverhaired boy sighed referring to the phone call.

"Yes you were," Yukiko said simply. "Though I figured out that part, after you started questioning him about his day with Chie," Yukiko then clarified.

"I see. So... are you going to tell them," Yu then asked carefully. He was a little worried about how Chie would react at this revelation.

"No," Yukiko said simply, causing Yu to sigh in relief. "If..." Yu stiffened "...you stay true to your word and stop meddling," Yukiko finished.

"I can do that," Yu replied. "Just out of curiosity: Do you think those two would be a good couple," the silverhaired boy then asked wanting a second opinion. Third if you count Yosuke.

Yukiko looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know," Yukiko said. "On one hand I think Nousku-kun actually likes Chie, but on the other hand I'm not too sure if Chie feels the same," the red clad girl added unsurely.

"Well, from now on. Let's just wait and see," Yu said. "That being said, I still need to make sure Ebihara-san doesn't do anything drastic," Yu then said.

"Surely, she wouldn't do anything too terrible," Yukiko then said, which earned her a look from Yu.

"You have no idea," Yu said before going after Ai. He had some hope for the blonde's safety, because the direction Ai went to didn't lead to the roof.

After Yu left Yukiko decided to get back into her original activity, trying to find Viljam. Some time after the school ended Yukiko had her back turned towards the Finnish boy, but when she turned back around he was gone. Just as that thought finished, Yukiko received a text message from Viljam, saying that he was dragged away by Chie. The wording made the girl a little suspicious. " _Why would Chie drag Nousku-kun somewhere,_ " Yukiko thought. Then her eyes widened as a certain thought crossed her mind, " _Are those two on a date now?_ ".

 **(Dojima household. July 4th. Evening)**

Yu still felt a little worried about Ai, although she seemed fine when he caught up with her, he still had a feeling something was about to go wrong.

Just as that thought had finished his phone rang. It was from Yosuke. "Hello Yosuke," Yu answered the phone.

" _Umm...hello,_ " Yosuke said nervously, which made warning bells go off in Yu's head.

"Okay, what's wrong," Yu asked hoping that whatever was weighing Yosuke wasn't too serious.

" _Remember the progress we made with Satonaka and Viljam. I think that has been... undone,_ " Yosuke said teh last word with difficulty.

"What do you mean? Did something happen," Yu asked getting concerned.

" _Well... Remember when I told you this morning that I would beat Viljam this time,_ " Yosuke said after a moment.

"Yes," Yu replied, wondering what that has to do with anything.

" _Satonaka tagged along to see Viljam kicking my ass. Then she wanted to try against him and...,_ " Yosuke let the sentence hang.

"She lost," Yu guessed and heard a noise of confirmation from Yosuke's end. "Okay, but how did that undo all the progress," Yu said, not quite believing that Chie would be a sore loser.

" _That's not the worst part. After about 15 tries, Viljam let Satonaka win and she noticed,_ " Yosuke explained.

Yu had to sit down on his couch after hearing this. "What happened next," Yu asked a little worried about the answer. He had long since learned that Chie doesn't like being looked down. She must've taken Viljam's act as him looking down on her.

" _Satonaka yelled, Viljam begged for mercy and she stormed out,_ " Yosuke gave the brief summary of the last moments.

"How did Viljam seem after that," Yu asked, worried about the frail boy.

" _I think he was between tears and terrorized,_ " Yosuke said struggling to describe how the Finnish boy looked, causing Yu to sigh a little. " _So...should we do anything,_ " Yosuke asked.

Yu thought for a moment before answering, "We'll do nothing.".

" _You sure? I mean, Viljam looked ready to cry his eyes out,_ " Yosuke said with concern. If the issue wasn't so serious, Yosuke would've found Viljam's reaction funny.

"This is something they need to resolve themselves, but if nothing has changed by next week...," Yu let the sentence hang.

" _If you say so, but I doubt Satonaka would say sorry. She's too stubborn for that,_ " Yosuke shrugged.

With that the two hung up. "One problem after another," Yu sighed while leaning back in his couch. Alongside worrying about Rise, he had to endure this kind of drama. Speaking of which, they should probably check on her one of these days.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **AN: Sorry about taking so long. Had a bit of a loss of inspiration. Thankfully I was able to finish this chapter.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. July 5th. early morning)**

Yu and Yosuke were now walking to school together. Yu had asked about the incident with Viljam and Chie in more detail.

"Basically, Satonaka wanted to try the fighting game we were playing, after seeing Viljam kick my ass," Yosuke explained. "Unfortunately, Satonaka clearly didn't know what she was doing," the Junes boy continued.

"What do you mean by that," Yu asked curiously.

Yosuke sighed at that. "Just what I said. Satonaka didn't even know the basics of gaming," Yosuke clarified. "Seriously how does someone not know what the control stick is used for," the Junes boy griped, which made Yu chuckle despite himself.

"Didn't you explain the controls," Yu then asked.

"I tried, but she threatened to punt me out of the window," the Junes boy said with a sigh.

Yu sighed at that. As much as he had a hard time believing Chie would act like that, he doubted Yosuke would lie about this. "So... How badly did Viljam beat her," Yu decided to ask.

Yosuke actually chuckled. "What did I just say about Satonaka's gaming skills. Of course she sucked," the Junes boy said. " Anyway she started to get irritated at constant losing, while Viljam and I were getting worried about her sanity," Yosuke added.

"And let me guess, when Viljam decided to let her win, she snapped," Yu deduced the rest.

"Exactly." was the simple confirmation from Yosuke.

"And you didn't try to calm her down," Yu asked.

Yosuke gave Yu a look that said, "Are you crazy!". "And risk getting a beating? No thanks," the Junes boy said.

"I wonder if Viljam comes to school today at all," Yosuke then wondered, " I mean, Satonaka completely terrorized him.".

"Let's hope that it's not that bad," Yu said and the two continued to the school.

 **(Yasogami High. July 5th. Early morning)**

It was once again time for the famous lectures of King Moron, however Chie had something else on her mind. After venting away worst of her anger yesterday, she started feeling bad for getting so angry. It wasn't Viljam's fault that she hasn't played video games before, but the two boys made it look so easy. This thought made Chie sigh a little and subtly glanced behind her. Viljam looked like he was trying to look anywhere, but Chie's direction, which was hard. She couldn't blame him though, after all the boy was on the verge of tears because of her outburst yesterday.

" _Why did I have to snap at him like that,_ " Chie thought to herself. Truth is Chie already knew the answer.

Also Chie was surprised that Yukiko hasn't said anything to her, while they were walking to school. In fact, Yukiko doesn't seem to know that Viljam was acting weirdly. Either Yukiko was oblivious to Viljam's slight depression or the Finnish boy kept quiet about the incident. Probably both. Also Viljam himself looked wary of Chie, like she would assault him any second.

" _I have to apologize to him,_ " Chie decided, if only because she didn't want Viljam to treat her like a rabid animal.

 **(Yasogami High. July 5th. Lunch hour)**

Unfortunately Chie couldn't even bring herself to approach Viljam, since he still seemed scared of her.

"Chie did something happen yesterday," Yukiko finally asked, which made Chie snap at attention.

Chie opened her mouth to tell some kind of lie, but then thought better of it. This was Yukiko, her best friend. With a sigh, Chie decided to come clean, but first, "Didn't Nousku-kun tell you?".

"No. What was he supposed to tell," Yukiko asked getting a little concerned.

"He...I snapped at him when he beat me in a video game," Chie confessed.

Yukiko didn't look too phased. "What did you say to him then," Yukiko asked more out of curiosity.

Chie was a little surprised at Yukiko's question and the tone she used. "Wasn't he crying," Chie asked, because she imagined that Viljam would've cried himself to sleep.

"Chie. Why would you think that," Yukiko asked, clearly worried now.

"Because when I snapped at him, he...he looked like he was abouttocry," Chie said the last one very fast.

It took Yukiko a few seconds to realize what her best friend tried to say, but when she did realize it, she had look that said: "I don't believe it.". "I find that hard to believe," Yukiko said, before looking thoughtful. "Although, now that you mentioned it, he seemed a little scared of something when you joined us on our walk here," Yukiko said almost absentmindedly.

"Yeah. Can't blame him," Chie sighed. "I want to apologize to him, but I don't know how," Chie then said. Yukiko instantly looked thoughtful, which Chie caught. "No," the green clad girl told her best friend.

"What," asked confused Yukiko.

"You're not locking us in a closet again," Chie said sternly, which made Yukiko look more confused.

"But Narukami-kun and I locked you on the roof," Yukiko corrected, which made Chie go a little red. "Do you want us to-"

"NO!" Chie cried in outrage, with a red face. "Look just forget that," Chie said, hoping Yukiko wouldn't pursue this issue any further.

Thankfully, she didn't. "Why not just apologize and then hug him," Yukiko then suggested.

"Yukiko! I'm serious," Chie said, not wanting to take any more teasing.

"So am I," Yukiko said simply, which made Chie stare at her best friend like she was crazy. "Nousku-kun himself said, 'Hugs always help'," Yukiko said with a smile. "And I've come to believe him," the red clad girl added, which made Chie a little more confused.

"How," Chie asked getting a little suspicious.

"Well, when I felt frustrated after a particularly hard day of helping at the Inn, Nousku-kun hugged me, and I just felt better for it. Then when I... tried cooking and failed, he hugged me and told me it was okay. When I helped him study he always hugged me while thanking me for bothering," Yukiko listed three major times, when Viljam's hugs made her feel happy.

Chie wasn't sure if she should feel grateful or jealous. Grateful, because Viljam has obviously been supporting, Yukiko. Jealous, because Chie was supposed to be doing that. Chie pushed those thoughts at the back of her head and focused on the matter at hand. "Those may have worked, but I can't do that," Chie said.

"Why not," Yukiko asked with a straight face.

Again Chie looked at Yukiko like she was crazy. "He's a guy," Chie said like that would explain it all. Judging by Yukiko's blank stare it didn't. "A girl can't just hug a guy for no reason," Chie explained slowly.

"But Nousku-kun hugs his sisters all the time," Yukiko said.

"I'm not one of his sisters," Chie said getting annoyed.

Yukiko giggled at Chie's retort. "True, but you're doing this to make him feel better, so that's a good reason," the red clad girl said again.

"No, it isn't," Chie said.

"Yes, it is," Yukiko said

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is."

"No!"

"Yes!"

 **(With Viljam and the other guys. Roughly the same time)**

"You do realize you were about to get beaten into a hospital, right," Yosuke said in disbelief.

After Yosuke and Yu managed to get Viljam to talk about the incident yesterday, turns out Viljam seriously believes that all the blame lied with him.

"Well, yeah but-" "But nothing," Yu interrupted sternly. "Satonaka-san was out of line, you shouldn't take a blame for something that wasn't your fault," the silverhaired boy said.

"But it's my fault she got angry in the first place," Viljam said.

"It's not your fault that Satonaka doesn't know how to play a game," Yosuke said. "You shouldn't let her walk all over you," Yosuke then said.

"Well...I...," Viljam tried to say, before a look of realization dawned on his face. "Hetkonen! Chie doesn't walk all over me," Viljam retorted as he realized what Yosuke meant.

"No honorific," Yosuke asked teasingly.

"Well sorry for slipping," Viljam said in an annoyed tone, not realizing what Yosuke implied.

"Anyway," Yu butted in. "The point we're trying to make is: While you should watch out for angering Satonaka-san, that doesn't mean you should be a pushover," Yu said.

"I'M NOT A PUSHOVER!" That outburst caused the other two guys to flinch. "Sorry, that still stings me," Viljam said, clearly ashamed of his outburst.

"Because of your shadow," Yu guessed.

"Yeah. My sisters have a bad habit of pushing me around," Viljam sighed. "It's not like they do it all the time, but I feel like they take me for granted," the Finnish boy continued. "Speaking of my sisters, Chie-san's outburst reminded me of how I lose my temper when I lose against them," Viljam then said surprising the other two.

"Lose in what," Yosuke asked out of curiosity.

"Games," Viljam replied shortly. "There aren't many games where they beat me, but in those few, I just can't beat them," The Finnish boy added with a sigh.

"If it's only few games, why do you get angry," Yu asked.

"Because, I have to be better than them at something," Viljam said, like he was ashamed of it. "Because of my learning disorder and asthma, I feel like I'm inferior to them in... everything," Viljam said while looking a little sad. "That's why I must be better at least in the thing I like, games. I know that it's stupid, but I can't help it.".

"Wow." Yosuke said. "Sounds like you have an inferiority complex," Yosuke said without thinking, earning a glare from the Finnish boy

"I hate you," Viljam said seriously.

Yu quickly got into the conversation before this could escalate. "Okay, okay, I think that's enough of Viljam's sisters," Yu said, in an attempt to pacify Viljam. Thankfully it worked.

"Just out of curiosity," Yosuke then spoke up. "Do your sisters do anything to you, just to screw with you," Yosuke asked out of curiosity.

Viljam looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well... Look here," Viljam said and lifted his chin up for them to see under it. After checking for a few moments, they noticed a single scar right under the Finnish boy's chin.

"Where did that come from," Yu asked, not liking where this was going.

"My sisters did this to me," Viljam said casually. Too casually if you asked Yu or Yosuke. "Or the time Maria locked me outside our house and after enjoying me crying to be let in, she dropped an icewater balloon on me," the Finnish boy said, again, casually.

Not wanting to hear anymore of Viljam's (violent) sisters, Yu and Yosuke directed the conversation elsewhere.

 **(Yasogami High. July 5th. After School)**

Viljam had just finished packing his bag and was ready to leave, until someone grabbed his wrist.

"We need to talk," Chie said, before dragging him away without even letting him answer.

This drew the attention of Yu and Yosuke. "What's she planning," Yosuke wondered a little worried.

"Chie's going to apologize," Yukiko answered with a smile, earning the two guys' attention.

Yu had a raised eyebrow at this revelation. "What makes you so sure," the silver haired boy asked in turn.

"Because we talked about it," Yukiko answered.

"What did you tell her," Yosuke asked a little interested.

Yukiko smiled mysteriously at that. "I just told her how to handle Nousku-kun.".

"And that means what exactly," Yu asked, getting curious too.

"You just wait and see," Yukiko said and refused to speak more of the issue.

 **(With Chie and Viljam)**

After Chie dragged Viljam to the roof and made sure no one else was within earshot, she took in a few calming breaths.

"About yesterday...," Chie started. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that," the girl apologized.

Viljam was a little surprised that Chie wanted to apologize, but he just sighed in relief. "Well... It's fine I guess," Viljam said, though he didn't sound so sure.

Chie caught onto this. "Is there... Anything you wanted as an apology," Chie asked, but part of her was a little worried about what the unpredictable maelstrom that was Viljam's head could think of.

Viljam had question marks at Chie's statement. "Uhhh... Chie-san, I already said it was fine," Viljam said. Then a certain thought came to him. "Actually... Can you tell me, why you got so angry," Viljam decided to ask, because up to now, he wasn't sure what set her off.

"Do I have to," Chie asked nervously.

"Yes," Viljam said simply. Truthfully, he would've said no, but then he remembered being called pushover.

Chie hesitated to tell the truth, but considering the damage she had done," I... You forfeiting felt like you were mocking me.". Chie felt very nervous now, she herself knew that the reason was very childish and expected Viljam to laugh.

Except Viljam just sighed a little. "I didn't mean to insult you. I was just afraid that you would snap after one more loss," Viljam then said. "I guess... I should've seen it coming," the Finnish boy added while looking down a little embarrassed for some reason.

"Well... I just don't like losing and... never mind," Chie said bashfully.

Now Viljam smiled. "..That's so like you," The Finnish boy said almost shyly.

"Is that a bad thing," Chie asked, not sure how to take that comment.

"No," Was the simple answer.

After that Chie steeled herself for something she wasn't sure if she would regret, but if she did, she would blame Yukiko. Chie moved closer to Viljam and pulled him into a hug, causing the Finnish boy to freeze. After few seconds of Chie's mind running thousands of scenarios of what would come of this, Viljam slowly wrapped his arms around Chie as much as he could, considering that Chie had locked his arms with her own.

After about five seconds more seconds, Chie pushed away. She could hear her own heartbeat in her ears and her face was as red as a tomato. "S-sorry," Chie stuttered.

"Älä ole," Viljam said in a small voice. Then he realized his mistake, "I mean, don't be.". After that, a moment of awkward silence ensued. " So... Was there... a particular reason or...," Viljam asked, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"No. I just... felt like it," Chie said, but then regretted giving such a pathetic excuse.

"Se on ihan hyvä syy," Viljam said, earning a confused look from Chie. "The closest translation I can think of is: That's good enough reason," Viljam said with a slightly embarrassed look.

Chie wasn't sure what to think of that response, but she decided not to question it, instead, "So? Do you still want to go see that movie," Chie asked.

"If you want," Viljam said hopefully.

With those words, the stone of guilt fell from her heart. "Wanna grab something at Aiya's. My treat," Chie asked, since she felt a little hungry.

"Okay," Viljam said happily, but then his face fell. "Oh, sorry. Yukiko's mom asked me to buy some tofu," the Finnish boy remembered.

"Can't you do that afterwards? The tofu shop is practically next to Aiya's," Chie asked skeptically.

"That's not all. Yukiko and I we're forbidden from eating outside today, because her mom wanted us to eat at the same table," Viljam said. "Apparently the dish consists of a lot of tofu, given the shopping list," Viljam said and fished out the list in question from his pocket. Chie quickly checked the list to confirm that it was indeed just a list of tofu's."Besides, I can ask how Rise-san is doing while I'm at it," the Finnish boy then said.

If this was Yosuke, Chie would've instantly got on his case. But this is Viljam, so instead, "Are you sure Rise's grandma would just tell any stranger how her idol of a granddaughter is doing," Chie asked with suspicion.

Viljam stared at Chie like he was offended. "First, you make it sound like I'm doing something suspicious. Second, I'm sure she wouldn't mind telling something as simple as that," Viljam replied with a dead pan tone.

"Sure," Chie said, while rolling her eyes. "Guess I won't hold you any longer then," the green clad girl said. With that, the two exchanged farewells. Unbeknownst to Viljam, Chie remembered that if she wanted to see the movie, then she couldn't afford treating Viljam. Lucky her, that Viljam was busy after all.

 **(Tatsuhime shrine. July 5th. Shortly after)**

"So everyone at the Inn thinks I'm your boyfriend," Yu asked with a raised eyebrow. "Does that include Viljam," the silverhaired boy added with mild curiosity. As much as the two felt like eavesdropping on Viljam and Chie, Yukiko decided to just hang out with Yu. To which the silverhaired boy accepted.

Yukiko had a slight blush, regretting revealing that everyone at the Inn wants her to "bring the boyfriend home". "I don't know. He doesn't seem interested," Yukiko replied, but truthfully, Viljam had occasionally teased her about it. Nothing too bad just a few relatively tame implications of Yukiko trying to seduce Yu. Like with her cooking, of which the Finnish boy finally grew a spine to speak his mind.

Yu thought for a moment before speaking again. "Aside from Viljam, I'm not sure if I should feel flattered or laugh at them for jumping to conclusions," the silverhaired boy said.

"Yeah, it can be a hassle," Yukiko said with an unnoticeable hint of disappointment.

The two's conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a middle-aged man in a suit. "Ah Yuki-chan," the man greeted.

"Oh. Deputy mayor," Yukiko greeted back recognizing the man.

"The people at the Inn seemed very busy. Is something going on," the deputy mayor asked.

Yukiko looked confused for a moment, but then remembered, "Oh no! Today was the interview for the travel show!".

Deputy mayor's eyes sparkled at that. "On tv? That's great! Please try to make Inaba sound inviting. Speaking of which, how has the exchange student been," the deputy mayor then asked.

"Nousku-kun has been very helpful and he seems to enjoy his stay," Yukiko replied.

"That's good. He might invite some tourists here too," the deputy mayor said, before he walked away.

Yukiko quickly returned her attention back to Yu. "I'm sorry, I have to go," Yukiko said in a hurry.

"What's this about an interview," Yu asked decided to ask, getting a little curious.

"Today is supposed to be an interview for a travel show," Yukiko explained. "It seems like a serious show, and we agreed to it, because mother and I won't be filmed," the red clad girl continued.

"Then why do you need to go," Yu asked slightly confused.

"Because they still need my help to clean the place," Yukiko replied, while looking apologetic.

"Guess it can't be helped," Yu said with an understanding look.

Yukiko still had an apologetic look, as she spoke, "Goodb-".

"There you are Yuki-chan," a woman's voice interrupted Yukiko. Both teens turned to the source to see Kasai speedwalking towards them.

"Kasai-san? What's-" "The Tv crew came, but don't go to the Inn," Kasai interrupted Yukiko.

"What's going on," Yukiko asked, getting worried.

"It was a trick," the kimono clad woman said earning exclamation marks from the two. "It's those people from "news of the weird" show," Kasai explained frantically.

"Them again," Yu exclaimed with a frown. Yu had met that crew once, while hanging out with Yukiko some time ago. The three men, especially their boss, seemed shady at best.

"Yes, and I think they're looking for Yuki-chan, so please stay put," Kasai practically pleaded.

"There you are," A man's voice said, causing all three to turn towards the source. Sure enough it was the very group that Kasai came to warn them about. "No use in hiding, future manager of the cursed inn," said the shady looking reporter.

"C-cursed inn," Yukiko said in disbelief.

"We know that Mayumi Yamano stayed at your inn, before she was murdered. And you guys've been hurting by the drop of the visitors, right," the shady reporter said smugly. "So I came up with a great idea, 'The High-School Manager's embarrassing struggle: Renovating the Cursed Inn'," the reporter said, like he just came up with something revolutionary.

Yukiko looked bewildered,"I don't understand what you...".

But the shady man interrupted her," I want you to be the star. When we introduce the hot springs, let's film a little bathing scene, eh," the man said suggestively.

"Now just a minute," Kasai butted in, but she was ignored.

" 'The Modest Manager's _Steamy_ Service!' Our ratings will go through the roof," the shady reporter said with too much enthusiasm for Yu's or Kasai's liking.

"Now listen here you-" "Please leave. We are not interested in your coverage," Yukiko told the crew, interrupting Kasai.

The reporter sighed at Yukiko's response. " Look kid, you don't know the power of television, do you," The reporter said, which made Yu roll his eyes a little. " I can't blame you since you live in the countryside, but we're trying to help here. If you're gonna be the next manager, then you should make the right decision," the reporter tried to reason.

"I... won't be the next manager," Yukiko said while looking down.

Yu was surprised that Yukiko would say that now, when Kasai was here too. Though strangely the kimono clad young waitress didn't even react. Then Yu noticed a certain someone behind the tv-crew who didn't look any more pleased than Kasai.

"Oh is that so," the reporter said, oblivious to the person behind him. "Well, you just say the word and I can hook you up with a better gig than running this dump of an inn," the reporter then offered.

"The Inn is not a dump," said the person behind the tv crew, causing them to turn around. "You just don't know how to appreciate it," said the person, who turned out to be Viljam. Yukiko and Kasai looked surprised to see him here.

"Nousku-kun, why are you here," Yukiko asked in surprise.

"I bought the tofu, your mother requested and then I see Kasai-san practically running here, with suspicious men not far behind. I got a little worried," Viljam explained while waving the shopping bag he was holding for emphasis.

The reporter looked unamused, "Who're you calling suspicious, boy," the reporter asked with slight anger.

"You," Viljam said like it was a fact.

This threw the reporter off guard, as he expected a different kind of answer. Then he took a closer look at the Finnish boy. "Aren't you the exchange student that disappeared alongside that girl," the reporter asked while gaining a shit eating grin.

"That doesn't matter here," Viljam responded.

"Oh, I think it does, because they say that you two ran away together," said one of the reporter's assistants, which made Viljam tremble with anger.

Yu had a feeling where this was going now, and he has had enough of it. "Leave him out of this," Yu said sternly, earning the crew's attention.

"Oh now the boy-toy talks," said the other assistant. Yu resisted a cringe, even when he saw these guys the first time, they called him that.

"Well, he's right though. We have no business, with this guy," the reporter said and turned his attention back to Yukiko. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, you could call yourself, 'The Former High-School Manager'," the reporter said.

Kasai was having none of this, "How dare you!".

"It's okay," Yukiko said, surprising Yu, Kasai and Viljam. "Once he has said all he has to say, he will just go home," the red clad girl sighed.

"Yukiko," Viljam muttered, unable to believe that she would just take these insults.

"What the-," the reporter said, getting frustrated at Yukiko's lack of interest. "Listen here, I know that Inn has been going on for generations, but that just means it's old," the reporter started earning a glare from Viljam and Kasai. "I've seen the food you serve. Small portions, decent service nothing that stands out," the reporter ranted, giving Viljam the temptation to smack them with his shopping bag. Or something harder. "If you want to succeed, you can't just do the same old, same old. Is that so hard to understand," the shady man continued.

As the reporter kept giving complaints and suggesting some outrageous things, Viljam grabbed Yu's attention by doing a throwing motion at the guy. As much as Yu would like to see that, he instead shook his head, earning a questioning look from the Finnish boy. Still, Viljam backed off, knowing that it wouldn't do any good.

"... up," Yukiko muttered.

"What was that," the reporter asked, pausing with his rant.

"SHUT THE HELL UP," Yukiko shouted, surprising everyone present. "Don't say another word about our inn! Who would take your stupid ideas seriously," Yukiko said with controlled anger. "From now on, we refuse ANY coverage from your station," Yukiko said with finality, impressing both Yu and Viljam.

The reporter's face contorted with anger. "You bitch! We'll plaster those words all over the prime time! See how that feels," the reporter threatened.

Yukiko was unphased. "By all means, do it. Then we will respond with an official complaint to your sponsors," Yukiko shot back.

One of the reporter's assistants went pale at that. "Uhh, boss. If she does that, we'll be shut down," the assistant said. In response, the reporter just tsk'd and walked away with his crew.

As soon as the crew was out of earshot, Yukiko let out a breath she had been holding. "I said some incredible things...," Yukiko sighed. Kasai giggled at that. Yukiko giggled as well. Then both of them started laughing, which was soon joined by Viljam.

Yu didn't laugh, but he did look highly amused.

"I should contact the Inn now. I'll see you later," Kasai said, still giggling a little, before leaving.

Viljam glanced at Yukiko. "I should go too. Your mother is probably expecting me already," the Finnish boy said and turned to leave. "You two lovebirds have fun," Viljam said, causing Yukiko to blush, while Yu's eyes widened in surprise.

"NOUSKU-KUN!" Yukiko cried. Viljam just kept walking away, cackling like a lunatic.

" Doesn't seem interested, huh," Yu asked sarcastically from Yukiko, who was looking at the ground in shame.

"I'm sorry for lying. Nousku-kun... teases me occasionally, just to get a reaction out of me," Yukiko confessed.

"Wow," was all Yu could say. He didn't even know the Finnish boy was capable of that kind of teasing. Then again, he does seem to have most fun at someone else's expense at times. " Still, I'm more surprised at what you said to that reporter," Yu then said, deciding that this was more important right now.

Yukiko looked embarrased. "I don't know what came over me. I just... lost it, when he started to insult everyone," Yukiko said like she was ashamed of her outburst. "W-was I scary," Yukiko then asked.

Yu chuckled at the question. "No, you were pretty cool. Actually, you could've said more," Yu said, chuckling at the last sentence.

Yukiko looked relieved to hear it. "Do you remember, when I told you that I wished the Inn would close," Yukiko then asked.

"Yes, why," Yu asked wondering where that came from.

"Well I thought that would be the best thing to happen, but it's like my home..," Yukiko said wistfully. "It's where everyone in my world is," Yukiko then said, before gaining a look of determination. "I can't let it close," Yukiko said firmly.

Yu smiled at Yukiko's words. Yukiko had told him her plan to leave Inaba, at first Yu thought it was okay if Yukiko wanted that. Then he realized that she would leave without telling anyone, including Chie. He wasn't sure how to make Yukiko change her mind, or if he even had a right to. But now, it feels like he doesn't have to. He even discovered something new about Viljam. There is a mischievous pain in the ass lurking beneath his timid nature. Yu couldn't help but chuckle at that thought.

"What? Did I say something funny," Yukiko asked, thinking Yu was laughing at her.

"No not you. I just thought that there's a mischievous pain in the ass hiding behind Viljam's timid nature," Yu said truthfully. Yukiko couldn't help but laugh at how funny that sounded.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 5th. Evening)**

Viljam was enjoying the meal with the Amagi family. It was funny, the few times he had caught Yukiko practicing, he was convinced that it was an Amagi thing. That is, until he found out that Yukiko's mother knew how to cook. He didn't like the dish though, but that was just his opinion. It was still edible to him.

The table converstaion was of course about the tv crew, but after hearing how Yukiko drove them away, Mrs. Amagi actually laughed. But then the conversation turned to Yukiko's "mysterious boyfriend". Yukiko started stammering about them just being friends until Viljam came to the rescue.

"As far as I know, Yu-san and Yukiko are just friends," Viljam simply said, which made Yukiko look at him in surprise.

Yukiko's mother had a skeptical look. "Is that right," Mrs. Amagi asked her daughter.

"Yes, mother," Yukiko said much calmer than few seconds ago.

Mrs. Amagi had a knowing look, but she didn't pursue the issue. "By the way, Nousku-chan. How has your stay been so far," Mrs. Amagi asked their guest.

"It's been great," Viljam said happily.

"Any particular reason, why," the Amagi matriarch asked slyly.

"No, why," Viljam replied, missing the tone that the woman used.

"No reason," Mrs. Amagi sighed, and the dinner resumed.

 **(Yukiko's room. after dinner)**

"Why did you cover for me," Yukiko asked Viljam, who had a confused look.

"What do you mean," Viljam asked not quite understanding what his host-sister meant.

"When mother asked me about Narukami-kun, you said we were just friends," Yukiko clarified.

Now Viljam raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that the truth," Viljam asked before his eyes widened. "Wait! You actually are a couple," Viljam exclaimed

"NO!" Yukiko cried with a heavy blush. "I just... thought you thought we were...," Yukiko said.

Now Viljam laughed at that. "Don't be so serious. I was just teasing you," Viljam said with a laugh.

"Why," Yukiko asked with a light glare.

"Because you're cute when you're flustered," Viljam said with an evil smile.

If anyone else had said that, Yukiko might've become redder, but this is Viljam, so, "You're evil, did you know that," Yukiko said seriously.

"I know. I'm so evil that everyone thinks I'm innocent," Viljam replied with a laugh. "Is this why you dragged me here," Viljam then asked. Indeed, after dinner Yukiko practically dragged Viljam to her room.

However, while that was something Yukiko wondered for a moment, the main thing was,"Well yes, but the real reason was to ask how you and Chie are now.".

Viljam smiled. "She apologized about the incident and I've forgiven her," Viljam replied.

"I see," Yukiko was almost disappointed that it was that easy after all. "You still planning that movie with her," Yukiko then decided to ask.

"Of course," Viljam said happily.

"I see," Yukiko said. Then she thought for a moment. Viljam had been teasing her about trying to "seduce" (Yukiko shivered at the word) Yu, so she figured it was time to get a little payback. "What's your intention with Chie," Yukiko started innocently.

"What," Viljam asked, utterly confused.

"You seem to get along with her," Yukiko replied. "I mean, you've had dinner at Aiya's with her frequently, trained with her and now you're going to a movie date," Yukiko said with a smile, which made Viljam uncomfortable.

"It's not a date," Viljam said firmly, though there was just a hint of a blush on his face.

"Aren't the things I listed what couples do, when they're dating," Yukiko said with a pointed look.

"Th-that's not dating yet. And the training was so I wouldn't be deadweight," Viljam managed to say.

"Yet?" Yukiko had an evil smile as she caught on that particular word. "So you wish to date her," Yukiko accused jokingly.

The Finnish boy paled as he realized his mistake. "ENPÄS! En, I mean- Th- It's... not," Viljam was now reduced to a sputtering blushing mess.

Yukiko wanted to tease more, but she couldn't hold her laughter in anymore. "*ahhahaha* Now *ahhah* you know *ahaha* how it feels," Yukiko managed to say between laughs.

"I hate you so much right now," Viljam muttered dejectedly. Unfortunately, Yukiko didn't make any sign of acknowledgment, so Viljam just left the girl's room.

As he left, Viljam remembered that he had to inform the others about Rise's condition. "No jaa, tekstaan sen," Viljam said to no one in particular and went to his room to do just that. According to Rise's grandmother, the teen idol was already well enough to walk around the house. The only reason she wasn't helping in the shop yet was because, her grandmother insisted.

* * *

 **AN: There. I figured I should have Viljam influence at least some of the social link rank ups. That's happened twice now and both with Yukiko. For the other links... I think I'll write one or two, if at all.**

 **Anyway, for some reason, I'm not looking forward to writing the next few chapters. Why? Well, I think most of you probably know the answer. If not, I won't say anything in case of spoilers.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

 **AN: This is the first chapter I've published from a boat. Yes, you red correctly, boat.**

 **As clichéd as it sounds, I've had a strike of inspiration in the middle of nature.**

 **As usual translation are found below.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. July 9th. Early morning)**

After the incident with Viljam and Chie, the two have been on relatively good terms. And by "relatively" I mean Viljam's been walking on eggshells around Chie. The Finnish boy may have said he had forgiven Chie, but now he was trying to be extra careful in not setting her off. Not that there was any real danger.

Currently, Viljam was walking to school with Yukiko. It was raining, so the two had their umbrellas.

"Make room!" a voice shouted, before Viljam noticed Chie pushing herself under his umbrella. "Sorry about this," apologized slightly wet Chie.

"Chie, why aren't you carrying your umbrella," Yukiko asked her best friend.

"Uhh.. because I broke it," Chie said slightly embarrassed.

"How," Viljam asked out of curiosity.

"Uhh..," Chie said nervously.

"Yes?" Viljam asked with a head tilt.

Chie sighed. "Fine. I practiced a Kung Fu move I saw from the movie trailer with my umbrella and accidentally broke it," Chie confessed. As Chie expected, Yukiko and Viljam started laughing, causing her to glare at the two.

Although their laughter didn't last long. "Does that mean, you'll have to share Nousku-kun's umbrella," Yukiko asked innocently. Then a thought occurred to her, " _Why not have them share the umbrella today._ ".

Chie realized the implication. "Uhhh... Maybe I could share with you instead," Chie said with newfound nervousness, much to Viljam's confusion.

"What's wrong with mine," Viljam asked, not realizing the problem.

This made Chie turn towards Viljam. "N-nothing, it's just... Yukiko's smaller than you so I would...not hog room," Chie quickly came up.

Judging by Viljam's look her explanation was a poor one. "Are you calling me fat," Viljam asked with a serious look, which nearly made Chie keel over.

"How did... What did... UGGHH," Chie couldn't comprehend Viljam's logic of where that came from. "Anyway, I should move to Yukik- huh?" Chie said the last one in confusion as she realized Yukiko wasn't there anymore.

"Over there," Viljam said while pointing ahead. Chie turned towards the direction to see Yukiko sprinting away a LOT farther ahead. How she got that far so quickly was beyond Chie. "...I didn't know she was that fast," Viljam said as he barely made out Yukiko waving towards them from afar.

" _Yukiko! Why are you doing this to me!?_ " Chie cried in her head.

"I guess we'll have to move together for now," Viljam sighed. "Though Yukiko could've at least said no instead of running away," the Finnish boy added.

"It's okay, I'll just run," Chie said and was about to do it, before she felt the back of her uniform get caught.

"No you're not," Viljam said while holding onto the back of Chie's seifuku uniform.

"Hey! Let go," Chie said, not liking the treatment.

Thankfully for Viljam, he was smart enough to let go. "Sorry, but the school's still ways away, you'll get soaked to the bone before you reach the gates," Viljam said almost sternly.

"Oh come on, it takes more than that for me to catch a cold," Chie retorted. "I mean, idiots don't catch cold right," Chie said while faking a laughter, instantly regretting her words.

"Chie-san, that makes no sense. Besides, wet clothes feel extremely uncomfortable," Viljam said sternly.

"...Fine," Chie gave up. Considering how much it's raining at the moment, Viljam's estimation about getting soaked to the bone weren't far off, also the Finnish boy was right about wet clothes feeling uncomfortable. With that, Viljam and Chie started walking.

"By the way, were you trying to replicate a weapon scene from the movie we're gonna go watch tomorrow," Viljam then asked.

"Well, yeah," Chie replied. "I mean, just the trailer was awesome and I can't wait to see the whole movie," Chie said while shaking with excitement at the last sentence.

"I can see why, the trailer was promising to say the least," Viljam said, and from there the two were lost in a comfortable conversation.

 **(Yasogami High. July 9th. Few minutes later)**

Outside the classroom, Yosuke took a look outside the window to an interesting sight. Viljam and Chie sharing an umbrella, seemingly talking to each other. The Junes boy couldn't help but gain a devious grin. " _So, he's made his move,_ " Yosuke thought, before moving into the classroom.

Little did Yosuke know he wasn't the only one who saw this. " _So...something is going on between them,_ " Ai thought to herself. Although she wasn't happy about Yu backing out, that doesn't mean she's lost hope. If those two have become a couple now, then she's one step closer to getting Kou.

Several others also looked outside the window. Some shrugged, some were amazed and some were even jealous of Viljam sharing an umbrella with a girl.

Back in the classroom Yosuke entered, the Junes boy noticed Yu talking to Yukiko about something.

" Maybe I shouldn't have done that," Yukiko said, having second thoughts about leaving Viljam and Chie alone.

"You're right. Especially if Satonaka-san decides to run here instead," Yu pointed out the possibility.

Yosuke smirked. "If you two are talking about Satonaka and Viljam, they just walked past the school gates sharing an umbrella," Yosuke butted into the conversation.

That made the two conspirators to turn towards the Junes boy. "You saw them," Yu asked.

Yosuke's smile reached from ear to ear,"Yup.".

"What were they doing," Yukiko asked with slight eagerness.

"Just talking, but they seemed comfortable with sharing their personal space," Yosuke said while snickering a little. "Next thing we know, those two start kissing and go on romantic dates," Yosuke snickered as he knew that Chie probably wouldn't know romance if it kicked her ass.

"Yosuke, I would shut up if I were you," Yu warned his partner.

"Oh come on, let me have my fun," Yosuke said.

"Oh really," said a certain girl from behind Yosuke, which made all color drain from the boy's face.

Yosuke slowly turned around to see the objects of their conversation staring at him. Chie with a dangerous look and Viljam with a disappointed one. " And you're wondering why bad things happen to you," Viljam said with a disappointed sigh.

"Uhh...Satonaka..ehhehe... Just kidding, you know. Harmless humor," Yosuke said while chuckling nervously.

"I hope you're ready for your punishment," Chie said while cracking her knuckles, which made Yosuke 'eep'.

"Chie-san, as much as I'd like to see Yosuttaja suffer, there are too many witnesses," Viljam said, earning a question mark at "Yosuttaja" comment from everyone.

"Yosuttaja," Yu parroted the word with a weird look, this made Yukiko giggle.

"It's a nickname I came up with," Viljam explained simply.

Chie however ignored the explanation and contemplated a little. As much as she hated to admit it, Viljam was right. Too many witnesses, besides, she would get in trouble if King Moron happened to walk in.

The doors to the classroom opened with a random student bursting in. "King Moron is coming," the student warned everyone and that made everyone quickly take their seats.

 **(Yasogami High. July 9th. Lunch hour)**

Yosuke thought he could sneak away from Chie, but the Kung Fu loving girl blocked his way. Now Yosuke was trying to beg for mercy.

"Please don't hurt me, I mean you didn't look like you hated it," Yosuke pleaded to Chie.

"Ohh... Maybe you should learn to MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS," Chie practically roared the last part.

While this was happening, Viljam turned towards Yu and Yukiko. "Okay, now I'm curious why does Chie-san make such a fuss about sharing an umbrella," Viljam asked the two, since that seemed to be the root of the problem.

"Oh well... that's," Yukiko tried to say, but she was too embarrassed to say it out loud with so many people around. Especially for something of _that_ nature.

"Yukiko, you're starting to scare me a little," Viljam said worriedly. "What am I missing," the Finnish boy sounded like he was begging for anyone to answer.

Yu sighed at the situation. "Well.. I don't know how it is in Finland, but here when a girl and a boy share an umbrella...," Yu started to say and whispered the rest into Viljam's ear.

Viljam's eyes widened at the revelation. "So... That's something only couples do," Viljam asked with a weird look.

"Yes," Yu said simply, expecting the Finnish boy to turn into a stuttering mess.

Instead, Viljam bursted into laughter so hard, that Chie stopped threatening Yosuke and caused both of them to stare at Viljam. "*Ahhah* I'm sorry. I just can't take that seriously," Viljam said between laughs. "Seriously, Japanese and their weird ideas. No offense to anyone," Viljam said the last part outloud. Anyone who bothered to hear it, just shrugged and moved on with it.

Now Chie felt stupid again. She had been wondering why sharing an umbrella with a girl didn't seem to phase Viljam on their way to school. Now it seems that having a girl and a boy underneath the same umbrella doesn't mean anything in Finland. However, instead of blushing, she just sighed almost disappointedly. But this doesn't mean she would forgive Yosuke, oh no."Whuh," Chie exclaimed after noticing Yosuke had disappeared from where he was. "When did he... URGH," Chie griped as she realized that the Junes boy made a run for it.

"Satonaka-san, let it go," Yu piped up.

"Oh I'm not gonna let him get the last laugh," Chie said a little threateningly.

"He's not worth the effort," Viljam added, which earned a questioning look from Chie. "I think letting him cower in fear in...whatever hole he hid in is better punishment," The Finnish boy started explaining, making Chie think. "Besides, beating him too many times might result in his pain tolerance growing and you would needlessly tire yourself chasing him," Viljam said.

Chie hated that Viljam made sense. "Fine," she grumbled.

 **(Inaba. July 9th. After School)**

" _How did I end in this situation again,_ " Chie thought as she was walking home. With Viljam's umbrella to keep her dry. But this time, Viljam wasn't with her. How did this happen?

After school, Chie griped about having to walk home in the rain. Thankfully Viljam offered to lend his umbrella. How did he get home then? With Yukiko of course. But Viljam handed the umbrella only when they had to go separate ways.

Chie almost protested about Viljam sharing an umbrella with Yukiko, but then she remembered that it wouldn't mean anything to the Finnish boy. Though what struck Chie as odd, was that initially Yukiko kept refusing to let Viljam under her umbrella. " _Why couldn't he walk me home,_ " Chie instantly flinched at the thought. " _Not again._ I'm starting sound like I actually...," Chie couldn't bring herself to finish that last one aloud.

Chie let out a sigh just as she reached her home.

 **(Somewhere else. Roughly the same time)**

Yukiko was nervous. No matter how many times she kept telling herself, "It's just Viljam", she kept thinking about the implications of sharing the umbrella with a boy. " _Maybe this is my punishment for putting Chie through that,_ " Yukiko thought. It felt like a good idea at the time, running off while leaving Chie to walk to school with Viljam. It was only when Yu questioned if the red clad girl thought of Chie possibly running off in the rain regardless, when she realized it might not have been smart.

A sigh interrupted Yukiko's inner musings. The girl turned to her guest brother, who was looking around in deep thought. Yukiko was tempted to ask him, but considering the situation, she didn't dare.

"Do you think we'll see anything in the Midnight Channel tonight," Viljam then asked.

Yukiko was almost thankful for Viljam's words, even if the topic was a little dreadful. "I hope not," Yukiko said. "Also if our assumptions are correct, then Rise-chan shouldn't be targeted anymore," the black haired girl added.

"True, but there's always the possibility that the culprit might change his methods," Viljam pointed out. "I mean, this would be the third time. And you know what they say about the third time," Viljam added.

Yukiko didn't like the thought, but she knew that it was a very big possibility. " Let's hope that doesn't happen," Yukiko said with slight worry.

"That's all we _can_ do," Viljam said, reluctantly accepting Yukiko's words.

With that, Yukiko was able to distrat herself from this situation for a moment. And now she felt nervous again.

Though unbeknownst to her, Viljam felt worried about tomorrow, and he had no idea why. Rise was safe as far as he knew and tomorrow him and Chie would go see the movie she kept foaming about. Still, last time he felt so worried was when they caught the peeping tom. When Viljam thought about it, maybe it was because it went too easily.

 **(Dojima household. July 9th. Evening)**

Yu may have distracted himself today by hearing how Yukiko managed to get Viljam and Chie to share an umbrella. Unfortunately, now that the Midnight Channel was about to be aired, he felt some dread. On one hand, Viljam did tell them that Rise was alright, but on the other hand, what if the culprit tried again. As much as Yu kept telling himself that Rise would be alright, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. " _Why do I feel like this,_ " Yu thought. " _Everything has worked out so far,_ " the silverhaired boy thought.

As soon as that thought passed, the Midnight Channel came on and Yu saw... nothing. The screen was on, but there was nothing on the screen, no person, no background, just the yellow light. After few seconds, the tv shut again.

"Maybe I worried for nothing," Yu thought with a light chuckle before going to bed.

 **(Dojima Household. July 10th. Early Morning)**

Yu could vaguely hear the sound of sirens. " _I thought I didn't set the alarm,_ " the silverhaired boy complained while using his pillow to cover his head. Then he heard the sound of his phone. "Who's calling me now," Yu muttered groggily, before sleepily reaching for his phone. After few seconds of blindly searching, he found it.

"Hello," Yu answered the phone groggily. Not at all happy about being awoken.

" _Hey! Did you hear yet. The police found another dead body_ ," shouted the voice of Chie from the other end of the line.

"Satonaka-san do you know what- Wait. WHAT!?" Yu shouted after his groggy brain processed the words properly. Now he got up wide awake. "Are you sure about this," Yu asked in a mix of disbelief and worry. "I mean, is the body hanging from somewhere," the silverhaired boy asked, dreading the answer.

" _Yeah, it was hanging just outside the shopping district,_ " Chie confirmed, causing Yu's stomach to turn.

"But how!?" Yu was on the verge of hyperventilating. The Midnight Channel didn't show anyone. No one was supposed to die, so how and why?

" _I don't know! I mean we...,_ " Chie said, clearly distressed. "... _Look, we're all meeting at Junes today. Come here right now,_ " Chie managed to say much calmer now.

"I will be there," Yu said before hanging up. How he envied Chie's calm demeanor right now. But now wasn't the time to panic. Yu quickly started to dress.

 **(Junes Food Court. July 10th. Few minutes later)**

Yu had just got to the food court in a hurry and scanned for others.

"Hey! Over here," Chie called from a table where she, Yukiko, Viljam and Kanji were already waiting.

Yu speedwalked towards them, while taking note of a little something. " Where's Yosuke," Yu asked.

"He's checking the crime scene," Chie replied, "He should be back soon.".

No sooner had Chie said that, than Yosuke already sprinted to them. "*pant* Yeah, it was murder alright," Yosuke said while catching his breath. "The body was hanging uspide down on an apartments rooftop," the Junes boy informed.

"Did you see who the victim was," Yu quikly asked.

"No, but I asked someone who did," Yosuke said. "And the victim was King Moron," Yosuke dropped the bomb.

That made everyone get up in shock. "KING MORON!" Chie exclaimed.

"You mean _that_ King Moron. Your homeroom teacher," Kanji asked in disbelief.

"But...why?" was all Yukiko could say. Viljam just looked shocked.

"That's... That shouldn't be...," Yu couldn't bring himself to voice a coherent sentence.

"I ain't seen King Moron on the Midnight Channel or any other program," Kanji complained.

"What on earth IS GOING ON!?" Chie cried out.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW!?" Yosuke snapped back.

"I thought we had a way to track the killer," Yu said.

Chie sighed heavily. "I know, but was it all just a big coincidence.".

"Maybe the Midnight Channel doesn't have anything to do with this," Yukiko too said, clearly as frustrated as the others.

"Maybe it doesn't. _Or something has changed,_ " Yu said the last one in his head.

"Damn it!" Yosuke shouted while slamming his hands on the table. "We came so far and now we're back to square one," Yosuke exclaimed.

"Maybe trying to catch the culprit that the police hasn't caught was too much after all," Viljam finally spoke in a hopeless tone.

"Guys!" Yu exclaimed earning everyone's attention, "We can't give up now," the silverhaired boy said with a determined look. "We've come too far just to give up now.".

"Damn straight," Kanji agreed. "We started this, because the police can't tell their asses from their elbows. We give up now, the shithead's gonna be loose forever," Kanji said.

"Kanji's right. We have to move on," Yu added in.

"Wow, you're smarter than you look, Kanji," Yosuke joked.

"What's that supposed to mean," Kanji asked in suspicion.

"Never mind," Yosuke waved his hand dismissively. " We've already risked our lives. No way we can back out now," The Junes boy decided to add his two cents.

"We also promised Teddie," Yu reminded everyone.

That statement made a light bulb go off in Chie's head. "Hey that's it! Why don't we ask Teddie," Chie exclaimed eagerly.

Yu smacked himself for not thinking that sooner. "Of course. If anyone knows it's Teddie. Let's go see him," Yu said and with that, everyone left the food court.

 **(Few minutes later)**

The gang walked into the electronics department, only to see two Junes workers there. Now normally there isn't any staff around the electronics, so this struck as a little odd.

"Why are they here," Yukiko wondered aloud.

"I'll check," Yosuke said and moved to the two. "Hi there, did something happen," Yosuke asked the two workers.

"Ah! Yosuke-kun, did the manager tell you about this," one of the workers asked Yosuke, who looked confused.

"About what," the Junes boy asked.

"Well... There's this weird mascot here. Are we having a campaign of some kind," the other worker asked.

"Mascot?" Yosuke repeated. For a moment Yosuke wondered if there was something he forgot, but drew a blank.

"Can you please do something about this, we need to return to our station now," one of the workers said and they both left without letting Yosuke answer.

"Could that mascot be...," Yu wondered, hearing the conversation. With those words everyone started to look around.

"Guys! He's here!" Chie exclaimed, causing everyone to turn towards the direction she was looking.

Sure enough, on one of the massage chairs was Teddie, humming in delight. "Ahhh... This is heaven," Teddie muttered in delight.

Everyone quickly ran to the bear.

"Teddie, why are you here?" was the first thing Yu asked.

"Why!?" Kanji exclaimed. "HOW are you here," the punk corrected.

At this Teddie looked confused. "What do you mean how? There's a door," Teddie said like it was obvious.

"Are you okay on this side," Yukiko asked with slight concern.

Teddie just looked more confused. "Why wouldn't I be? You're okay on my side," Teddie pointed out, causing everyone to sweatdrop at that.

"Miten-," Viljam shook his head at his mistake. "How long have you been here," Viljam corrected himself.

"I've been waiting for you guys for a while now. Took you long enough to get here," Teddie complained.

"Teddie... If you could leave your world, why didn't you do it before," Yu decided to ask.

"Because I never thought of it," Teddie replied, earning blank looks from everyone. " But meeting you guys made me curious about this world, so I decided to come here. I didn't know where you guys were at the time and I didn't feel like going back yet. So I waited here," Teddie explained, but everyone were still wrapping their head around that the bear was here now.

"'Ei tullut mieleen', hän sanoo," Viljam muttered, forgetting that no one could understand him.

Yu decided to ignore the Finnish words and get them back on track. "Teddie, has anyone entered the TV world since we left," Yu asked the bear.

"No, why do you ask," Teddie replied.

"Are you sure? How long have you stayed here," Yukiko asked.

"I stayed on my side until the fog settled back, but no one came," Teddie said, earning exclamation marks from everyone.

"You're positive," Yosuke asked skeptically.

Teddie looked offended at the question. "Aren't you listening? I was alone. That's why I came here," Teddie complained.

"Sorry for asking, but are you sure your nose wasn't plugged," Viljam asked carefully.

"Grrrr! I was utterly, completely and 100% alone!" Teddie exclaimed in annoyance, causing Viljam to flinch a little.

"Teddie," Yu got in between, before this could escalate. "I believe you, as hard as it is," the silver haired boy sighed.

"Wow... Sensei is cold today," Teddie said, which earned small smiles from others.

This news however didn't sit with them. "If King Moron never entered that side, then why...," Chie couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence, as much as she disliked the guy.

Everyone's attention was turned to a heavy sigh that came out of Viljam. "I... Never mind. Not important," Viljam dismissed what he was about to say.

"Hey! Hey!" Teddie then exclaimed earning everyone's attention again. "I wanna go somewhere," Teddie exclaimed with child-like eagerness.

"Whuh? Now ain't the time dude," Kanji said, which was responded by a pleading look from Teddie.

"Pretty please," Teddie pleaded. "Besides, I need to give these to Rise-chan," Teddie said and pulled out pink framed glasses. "She'll probably take over support, now that I'm fighting in the front lines," Teddie said surprising everyone.

"You, fight with us," Yosuke asked skeptically. Sure, he remembered the training the bear started, but he wasn't expecting much.

Teddie chuckled at the response. "Don't think of me as the same cute Teddie. I'm an all new model! This day marks the new Legend of Teddie," the mascot exclaimed, while striking a heroic pose.

"Wow! A new legend," Yukiko said in wonder, earning sweatdrops from everyone but Viljam, who instead laughed his head off.

"Uhh...Guys, we should leave," Yu said after noticing a little something.

"Huh?" Yosuke mouthed as he turned to see what Yu was looking at. People were staring at them. "Crap! Let's get out of here. Teddie, keep your head down," Yosuke whispered to the bear, and with that, the gang changed location.

 **(Food Court)**

Everyone was once again seated at the Junes Food Court. "Teddie, just to make sure. No one was in the TV world except for you until the fog came back, right," Yu asked the bear.

"That's what I've been saying," Teddie replied.

"King Moron didn't show up on the Midnight Channel either," Chie pointed out.

"The heck's up with that," Kanji wondered.

"No clue, but I think we can be sure that King Moron was never thrown into the TV," Yosuke sighed.

"I jinxed it after all," Viljam muttered to himself.

"What do you mean," Yu asked the Finnish boy.

"I think the killer changed his methods," Viljam replied while hanging his head.

"What? You mean like, he was snuffed on our side," Kanji asked, earning a nod from Viljam.

"Why," Chie asked. "Why not throw him into the TV just like the rest," the green clad girl questioned.

"Because they couldn't," Yu said, earning question marks from everyone but Viljam. "Well, maybe not 'couldn't', more like they thought it wouldn't work," Yu clarified.

"That's what I feared," Viljam sighed. "I should've brought it up," Viljam said sadly.

"What's done is done," Kanji said. "Besides, not like we could've known who the victim'd be if they didn't show on the Midnight Channel," the punk said with a sigh.

"That's twice you've said something intelligent in one day," Yosuke joked, earning a glare from Kanji. "Still, if that's true. Then unless we catch the killer, then we can't stop him," Yosuke once again got serious.

"We need more clues," Chie griped.

"Maybe Rise-chan can tell us something," Yukiko pointed out.

"That's our only hope for now," Yu agreed.

"*urg* It's so hot," Teddie started complaining. "I'm taking this off," Teddie said and reached for the zipper behind his head.

This action earned exclamation marks from others. "Wait, you're not talking about your head, are you," Yosuke said, before slapping Teddie's paws off the zipper. "Cut it out, there's kids here," Yosuke hissed at the bear.

"Teddie, you can't take your head off here," Yu told the bear.

"We might not be surprised, but normal people are going to panic seeing an empty costume walking around," Viljam pointed out to the bear.

"Though I'm glad you're back to normal. Your fur's fuzzy again," Yukiko said happily.

"C-can I feel it," Kanji asked hopefully.

"No," Teddie refused instantly. "Actually I'm no longer a hollow bear. Mwahahaha," Teddie then said, earning weird looks from others.

"What do you mean," Yu asked getting interested.

"I've trained and trained, hoping to someday score with Chie-chan and Yuki-chan. Now I finally have an inside," the mascot cheered, earning almost pitying looks from most of the team.

"Yeah...sure," Chie said with slight discomfort.

"Come on," Yukiko exclaimed angrily. " Can't we just forget the whole 'scoring' thing at last!". Viljam was so tempted to comment on that, but he valued his life too much.

Yosuke let out a frustrated sigh. "Dude, you're hollow. Taking your head off isn't going to cool you down," the Junes boy tried to reason with the bear.

"But I just told you I'm not hollow," Teddie exclaimed. "URRGGHH! It's too hot! I can't stand it," Teddie screeched and reached for his zipper again.

"Stop it," Yosuke shouted before grabbing the bear to stop the disaster that was about to happen.

Unfortunately, during the struggle Teddie managed move the zipper all the way around. This caused his head fall off to reveal... a blonde haired pretty boy, with sparkling blue eyes. This sight made everyone to stare in shock at the boy, who took one of the drinks the team had for themselves and took a large gulp. "Ahhh. Much better," Teddie(?) said. Then the boy turned his gaze at the two girls. "Hey Chie-chan, Yuki-chan," Teddie(?) said while trying to look charming... and actually succeeding.

"Y-yes," Chie said dumbly, still in shock.

"Do you have anything to wear, I'm basically like a newborn at the moment," the pretty boy said with a wink.

"T-Teddie, is that really you," Chie asked, not sure if this was really the bear they all knew. He looked so... human. Yukiko was just as shocked, and actually wondered if she should drop the scoring thing after all. Then Teddie's statement registered in Chie's head. "Wait! Did you just say you're like a newborn," Chie exclaimed.

"Why yes," Teddie said. Now that they saw, Teddie didn't have any kind of shirt. And if Teddie's statement was true, then that costume was the only clothing he had.

"Th-then don't take the bottom part off," Chie quickly said. "We need to get you some clothes, come on Yukiko," Chie said, before getting up with Yukiko and the two took the bear somewhere. Leaving the still shocked guys.

"That's... Teddie," Kanji wondered aloud. "He said he's not hollow anymore. So... he like... grew himself a body in there," the punk questioned as he desperately tried to wrap his head around this development.

"What kind of creature _does_ that," Yosuke questioned.

Yu just blinked. "I think we better stop thinking about this, just to keep our sanity," Yu said, more to himself than to others.

"You're right," Yosuke sighed. "It's not like this is the weirdest thing we've seen, right Viljam," Yosuke said. "Viljam," Yosuke questioned again as Viljam didn't answer.

Now everyone turned towards the Finnish boy who was still staring at the direction the girls took Teddie to.

"Uhhh... You okay in there," Yosuke asked carefully, but the Finnish boy was unresponsive. Actually, his eyes looked lifeless, like he wasn't even there right now.

"Did Teddie break him," Kanji asked in concern.

"Viljam," Yu tried calling out to Viljam, while waving his hand in front of the Finnish boy's face. No response. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," Yu said and pinched Viljam's arm, hard.

"JIAAAAUTS!" Viljam cried, snapping back to reality. "MITÄ HELKKARIA!?" the Finnish boy shouted angrily, while rubbing the abused area.

Yu didn't need a translation to know what the Finnish boy was saying. "Sorry, but shouting didn't work," Yu explained calmly while putting his hands up in surrender.

"You didn't have to pinch me that hard," Viljam complained. "Anyway, do you guys think Teddie chose that form," Viljam then questioned.

"What," Yosuke asked in disbelief. "Was that what made you a vegetable," Yosuke questioned.

"First, I didn't become a vegetable. Second, I was thinking if Teddie could've chosen any form, or if he could alter the current one. The infinite evil things he could do with that kind of power makes me shiver," Viljam said, while shivering for emphasis.

Yu didn't know what Viljam was thinking, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. "At least that form's better than him walking around in a bear costume," Yu quickly said, not wanting to think too much on what Viljam's hyperactive imagination cooked up.

"Agreed," Yosuke said, sharing Yu's thoughts. "Anyway, shouldn't we go see Rise now," the Junes boy reminded everyone.

"Oh right," Kanji said in realization.

"What about Teddie," Viljam wondered.

"He's with the girls, so he should be fine," Yu said before getting up, with that everyone got a move on.

 **(Shopping District. July 10th. Daytime)**

Although the male portion of the gang already made it to the shopping district, they decided to wait for the girls after all.

"Mmmm-MMM! It's finally the season for Topsicles again," Kanji exclaimed in delight.

True to the punks words, each of them had a Topsicle in their hand, although Kanji had three.

"This is good," Viljam said, clearly enjoying the treat.

"No Viljam approves," Yosuke teased.

"Viljam Highly approves," Viljam responded automatically, before realizing what just happened. "...Can you please drop it," the Finnish boy pleaded, while looking away in embarrassed.

Yu chuckled at the two's antics. Then he noticed the girls approaching with Teddie in his new clothes.

"How do I look," Teddie asked while striking a pose, earning the rest of the guys' attention.

"Whoa! is that you Teddie," Yosuke exclaimed as he took in Teddie's new ensemble. A white blouse, like shirt with a red rose on the left lapel and black stylish pants. Completed with black shoes.

"C'est magnifique," Yu said with a smile.

"Don't encourage him," Chie said. Then she turned towards Teddie. "It blew my mind, but this is Teddie. This guy had to make everything a huge ordeal," Chie complained.

"Well, he can't help it," Yukiko said. "It's his first time in our world," the Amagi heiress said kindly.

"He still didn't have to go crazy in the women's section," Chie said with a sigh.

"What!?" Yosuke and Kanji exclaimed in unison. Viljam stopped to stare at Teddie mid-bite of his Topsicle. Yu just looked at Teddie funnily.

Teddie looked down in shame.

"All right, all right. No need to get mopey," Chie said to the depressed looking boy, which made him perk up again. "You could be pretty cute, if you just behaved yourself," Chie said encouragingly.

"Cute huh," Yosuke said with a devious grin. "What do you think Kanji," Yosuke asked the punk.

"Huh? Why're you asking me," Kanji asked confused.

"Just wondering if he was your type," Yosuke replied with a cheeky grin.

"Ohh. So what you're really asking is: Please beat the shit out of me Kanji," Kanji threatened, causing Yukiko and Viljam to laugh. "It ain't funny," Kanji complained unamused.

Then a lightbulb went off in Viljam's head, pausing his laughter. "Hey Kanji, you were good at sewing right,"Viljam asked.

"Yeah, why," Kanji asked, getting suspicious.

"Once you beat the shit out of Yosuke, could you sew his mouth shut," Viljam asked, earning a grin from the punk.

Yosuke on the other hand lost color from his face. "DUDE! Don't give him ideas," Yosuke cried, causing more laughter. Even Yu couldn't help laughing.

"*ahhaha* You're*ehheheh* making this too easy *kihhihihi*," Viljam managed to say between laughs.

"Come on baby don't fight over me," Teddie said.

"Shut up!" Yosuke cried. Then the Junes boy let out a sigh, before digging out a 1000 yen bill. "Here you go, Kanji, buy whatever ice cream you want, but share some with Teddie," Yosuke said, surprising everyone.

"Whuh? I can't just take this from you," Kanji said.

"Just accept it. If Yosuke wants to bribe you, then let him," Viljam said, earning curious looks.

"What d' ya mean bribe," Kanji questioned.

"He's obviously trying to avoid getting beaten by you," Viljam said with a sweet smile.

"It's nothing like that," Yosuke protested. "Just... think of it as a welcome back party for Teddie," Yosuke said, wanting to be done with Viljam's nonsense. "The rest of us will be heading for the Tofu shop, just wait for us here," Yosuke then said.

"Whohoa, Hanamura's actually acting like a real senpai," Chie said, clearly impressed. "Nice to see that Hanamura is developing into an adult that doesn't let little things bother him," the green clad girl said.

Yosuke wasn't sure why, but something about the way Chie said that bothers him. "Okay, what are you up to," Yosuke asked.

"Oh it's just Teddie's clothes," Chie said, causing ice water run down Yosuke's spine. "We didn't have enough money so we charged them on your account," Chie said pretty fast.

"YOU WHAT!?" Yosuke screeched. "How could you!?" Yosuke shouted, feeling betrayed.

"Well what else we're we supposed to do!? That stuff was expensive," Chie argued.

"You know I just bought a motorcycle, I'm broke," Yosuke argued back.

"So? A little more debt isn't going to make much difference," Chie argued again.

While this was happening, Kanji turned towards Teddie. "Hey Ted. Wanna get some Topsicles," Kanji asked the blonde boy, who nodded happily.

With those two gone, Viljam looked at the arguing duo in concern. "Should we... do something," Viljam asked unsurely.

"Let's just leave them," Yu said.

"Yeah. I think they're going to take a while. Come on, Nousku-kun," Yukiko said, and the three moved towards Marukyu.

Just as the three had appeared in front of the store. A familiar face came outside. "Ah. I had a feeling you'd come," said the boy the gang had seen with Kanji, though he had switched his coat with a light blue button up shirt and a yellow tie. "Are you here to ingratiate yourselves with Rise Kujikawa now," the boy asked, surprising the three.

"Ingratiate," Viljam repeated, unfamiliar with the word.

"I'll tell you later," Yukiko whispered to Viljam.

Just then, Yosuke and Chie walked in on the situation,with Yosuke still complaining about Chie charging Teddie's clothes to him. Until he saw the hat wearing boy. "Huh? You're that guy we saw with Kanji," Yosuke said.

"Precisely. I don't believe I've introduced myself," the boy said. "My name is Naoto Shirogane. I'm investigating the murders that have occurred here," the now identified Naoto said, earning surprised looks.

" _Is he the young detective Uncle was complaining about,_ " Yu thought in his head.

"Mind if I ask a couple of questions on the subject," Naoto asked.

"Sure," Yu replied.

"The latest victim, Kinshiro Morooka. He was a teacher at your school, correct," Naoto inquired.

"Yes, he was. Why," Yu answered calmly.

"The public is focused on the fact that the victim is related to the school of the second victim. But in truth, that's irrelevant," Naoto explained. "What intrigues me, is that this Morooka never appeared on the TV," Naoto then said, surprising everyone further. "What do you make of that," Naoto asked the gang.

"..How are we supposed to know," Yosuke asked, feigning ignorance.

"There were also reports about one of his students acting violently against him," Naoto then said, causing Viljam to look terrified. "But that too is irrelevant," Naoto said, before walking away from them. "I would like to solve this case as quickly as possible. I will keep an eye on you." Were the detective's last words before he left.

"What's up with him," Yosuke wondered.

"He's probably the detective, my Uncle was complaining about," Yu said.

"Is he... going to have me arrested," asked terrified Viljam.

"Whuh? Nousku-kun, they can't jump to that kind of conclusion from one time," Chie cried out.

"What if-"."Viljam," Yu said sternly. "That outburst happened ONE time all the way back in May. I don't think that qualifies as a motive," Yu said reassuringly.

Viljam took a few breaths to calm himself. "Thanks.".

Just then Rise came out of the shop. "Oh hi," Rise said after noticing everyone.

"Rise-chan! You're alright," Yukiko exclaimed.

"Yeah. Did you guys come check up on me," Rise asked

"Yeah," Yu said simply.

"Do you guys have a moment," Rise then asked. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Sure," Yu responded.

"Okay, then follow me. My grandma's taking care of the shop today," Rise said and led everyone towards Tatsuhime shrine.

 **(Tatsuhime shrine)**

During the time Rise led the gang to Tatsuhime shrine, Yu had asked if Rise remembered anything about being kidnapped.

"Yeah, I remember being at my house, but when I came to, I was already in the other world," Rise said, earning some disappointed looks.

"Still no real information," Chie sighed.

Yosuke decided to ask something else. " By the way, we saw this weird kid named Naoto leaving your shop...," Yosuke let the sentence hang.

Rise caught onto the question. " Oh, him. He's come to the shop several times to ask about the incident," Rise explained. "But I didn't tell him about the other world. He also asked about you guys, but I made up some stuff," Rise told the gang.

"Maybe he's looking for an excuse to have us arrested," Viljam said in fear, earning a light slap from Yu.

"He already said that your outburst was irrelevant," Yu scolded the Finnish boy. "But Kujikawa-san. Thank you for covering for us," Yu thanked the girl.

"Just call me Rise," Rise said with a smile. Then the girl looked unsure. "Umm...". This behavior earned questioning looks. "I appreciate what you did for me," Rise said a little shyly. Yu was about to respond until...,"Thank you SOOO much! I love you guys," Rise exclaimed cheerfully, surprising everyone.

Though the surprise didn't last long. "Aww. You don't have to thank us," Chie said.

"Dude! She's so cute," Yosuke tried not to gush. "It's finally hitting me, that you're the real Risette," Yosuke said the last one to Rise.

"You would know," Viljam said with a smirk, earning a glare from Yosuke.

"He's not wrong," Yu supplied earning a "HEY!" from Yosuke.

Rise giggled at the exchange. "I know I sounded gloomy and all from stress, so... I thought you guys wouldn't like me that way," Rise explained. "Do I sound weird," Rise then asked.

"No, I prefer happy over gloomy," Yu said.

"Well I guess it sounds more natural to the public," Rise sighed. "Sorry, it's just that I've practically forgotten what normal me is like," Rise then said.

Chie chuckled at that. "No need to apologize. Just do what comes naturally," Chie said encouragingly.

"I think everyone has multiple sides to them. You don't have to force yourself to pick just one," Yukiko added.

"And if someone else thinks it's weird. Well that's not your problem," Viljam added his two cents.

Rise smiled at everyone. "I'm glad you're the first people I got to know here," the teen idol said happily.

"Speaking of which...," Yu said as he dug out the glasses Teddie gave him, "...these are for you, but you don't have to take them if you don't want to.".

Rise looked at the offered glasses. "Senpai, would you be struggling without me," Rise asked. "Wouldn't it be better if I helped you in that world," the teen idol added.

"Only if you want to," Yu said, not wanting to force Rise into this. Rise responded by taking the glasses.

"Does this mean that I'm one of you guys now," Rise asked while trying them on.

"Do you remember how the TV world was covered in fog," Yu asked the girl, who nodded in response. "With these glasses you can see through it, like it didn't exist," the silver haired boy explained.

"Thank you Yu-senpai," Rise said, happy to be in.

"Why do you call me senpai," Yu couldn't help but ask.

"I'll be going to Yasogami High, starting tomorrow. I'll be in the first year," Rise explained.

"Then that makes you our kohai," Yu said good naturedly.

"Yes, but please don't ignore me in the school. And I do owe you my life so...," Rise let the sentence hang, which earned weird looks from anyone that isn't Yu.

"Of course," Yu said with a smile.

While this exchange happened, Viljam nudged Yukiko to earn her attention. "Is it just me, or is Rise-san planning something," Viljam whispered to Yukiko.

"I'm not sure," Yukiko said, but she too suspected something.

"Well, this isn't the best time to transfer here. What with two murders, King Moron's death and the exams are just around the corner," Yosuke said, trying to lighten the mood. "Say do you think they'd be cancelled," Yosuke wondered hopefully.

"I doubt it," Chie said a little down. "The exams are always held, rain or shine," the green clad girl complained.

"Yukiko and I have studied, so I'm not worried," Viljam said, not reading the other two's mood.

"Anyway, let's talk more about the case tomorrow," Yu said, trying to change the subject.

At that moment Kanji decided to show up. "Yo how's it going," Kanji greeted everyone.

"Fine," Yu responded for everyone. "Where's Teddie," the silverhaired boy asked after noticing the blonde boy missing.

"He's down there finishing his fifth Topsicle, but I ate six so I still win," Kanji said proudly.

"No one asked," Yosuke said, not interested in Kanji's "high score".

"Well..., what're we going to do with him," Kanji asked, referring to where Teddie would stay.

"I guess I'll take him home," Yosuke said with a sigh.

"What're you going to say to your folks," Yu asked.

"...I'll think of something,"was Yosuke's vague answer.

Chie shook her head, before she had a panicked look. "Oh crap! What time is it," Chie cried out.

Viljam checked his phone to see the time. "It's 3:47," Viljam said having a slightly sad look himself. "We missed the movie," the Finnish boy sighed. Well the movie actually starts about one hour from now, but the train they would've needed to take has already left, and the next train doesn't leave for the next two hours.

"Damn it," Chie cursed.

"Oh, you two had a date," Rise asked the two who instantly froze at the question. "Sorry if I got in your way," Rise apologized.

"Wh-WHUH!? It's not a date!" Chie cried out, earning laughs from Yosuke and Yukiko.

"Oh, sorry I just thought that's something couples do," Rise said teasingly.

"Oh come on," Viljam groaned,while clutching his face at having heard the similar thing from Yukiko. _"En enää ikinä kiusaa Yukikoa_ ," The Finnish boy thought, thinking this was his divine punishment from all the times he teased Yukiko, which it probably was.

"Calm down Viljam," Yosuke said with a smirk. "You'll get your chance to make out with Satonaka later.".

"Nousku-kun, I think there's a leaky faucet ," Chie said with a furious blush.

"Yeah, suljetaan se," Viljam replied with equal coloring.

Yosuke didn't need a translation to know that he's about to enter the world of hurt. Nor did Chie need to understand Viljam's words to know he agreed with her. "...sorry," Yosuke said with little confidence. Then he made a run for it as Chie gave chase.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 10th. Evening)**

Viljam was depressed. Not only did he miss the movie with Chie, but also King Moron's death. Sure the Finnish boy hated the teacher and wished him gone, but... Not like this. Now Viljam felt horrible, because he felt like it happened because he wished for it. He didn't even report the incident to his family, because he feared that they might have him returned home. The rational part of Viljam's head told him that he has to return home eventually. The irrational part of him told him to resist and stay here, no matter what.

"Miksi edes ajattelen tätä," Viljam muttered with a sigh. With that, Viljam decided to go to bed. At least they would have a better teacher tomorrow.

 **(Dojima Household. July 10th. Roughly the same time)**

"Good night big bro," Nanako said tiredly, from her bed.

"Good night Nanako," Yu responded before closing the door to Nanako's room. Then Yu moved to his own room. Earlier, the news about King Moron's death hit the news and that made Nanako scared. Thankfully, Yu was able to comfort the little girl. Now he had tucked him in and was ready to go to bed himself.

"Can we really catch the killer now that he's changed his methods," Yu wondered as he set his futon. "*sigh* I wish we had more information," Yu sighed, before flopping down.

 **(Velvet Room)**

Yu slowly opened his eyes to see he was in the Velvet Room once again. "Whuh? How am I here," Yu asked, while looking around.

"Do not be alarmed," Came the voice of Igor, from the front. "You are still fast asleep in the real world. I have summoned you here within your dreams," the master of the room explained.

That put Yu at ease, after all this isn't the first time this has happened. "Why," Yu asked.

Igor chuckled at the question. "How are things proceeding? Are you gradually drawing nearer to a solution to the mystery," Igor answered with a question.

While Yu didn't like the creepy old man avoiding his question, he decided to go with it. "Yes," Yu answered. Honestly he had no idea why he said it, but he just felt comfortable to answer that way.

"Excellent," Igor said in delight.

"The season has changed, but your future is not yet closed," Margaret spoke next. "In time, a path will open to you," the assistant said cryptically.

"Indeed. Your journey will soon reach it's climax," Igor said, giving Yu just a little hope. "And as a result, many challenges, which I cannot foresee at present, await you," Igor added. That sentence should've dashed Yu's hopes, but instead made him more determined than ever. "Most interesting," Igor chuckled, before Yu started losing his vision, "Well, until we meet again.".

* * *

 **AN: I hope I can write more chapters. Hope I have some fun here. We'll there is a smoke sauna here, an outdoor shower and a hot tub.**

 **Translations:**

Ei tullut mieleen, hän sanoo= Didn't come to mind, he says.

Yeah, suljetaan se= Yeah, let's shut it

Miksi edes ajattelen tätä= Why am I even thinking this


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

 **AN: Funny... I had to take another visit to the cabin to get myself to write again. Although I finished this chapter at home.**

 **The translations will be found at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. July 11th. Early Morning)**

Yu was sitting down on his desk, while chatting with Yosuke, though he kept hearing bits about students talking abou King Moron's death.

"Some say it might've been the exchange student. I mean, he did lash out," said a random girl.

Yu paused his conversation to look at Viljam. The Finnish boy looked like he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

"I feel sorry for him a little," Yosuke commented. "I mean, we know he couldn't have anything to do with it," Yosuke said.

"Hopefully those comments won't escalate," Yu added in.

Just then the classroom door opened, with a woman walking in. That made everyone who weren't seated to take their seats.

"Goood morning," the woman greeted with a playful tone. "I'm Noriko Kashiwagi, your new teacher. Starting today," the now named Noriko Kashiwagi said. This information caused everyone except Viljam to gain exclamation marks.

"Oh crap," Yosuke whispered.

"What's wrong," Viljam whispered to Yosuke. "Is there something wrong with her," Viljam asked.

"Just wait and see," Yosuke whispered quickly, not wanting to get caught.

Kashiwagi luckily hasn't noticed the exchange. "You all probably know, but now that Morooka-sensei has passed away, I'll be taking _good_ care of you instead," the female teacher said with a giggle.

Something about the way Kashiwagi said that made warning bells ring in everyones' heads. Including Viljam, who felt... threatened.

"Now then, why don't we hold a silent moment for Morooka-sensei. Close your eyes everyone," Kashiwagi said. While everyone questioned in their heads why they had to do that they did it anyway. Few seconds passed, before Kashiwagi spoke again, "That should be enough.".

Everyone opened their eyes again to see Kashiwagi sitting cross-legged on top of the teacher's desk. And she was wearing a skirt. Which wasn't exactly long.

"I'll do my best to fill Morooka-sensei's shoes. Oh and the regular exams will be held normally next week." the teacher said, with a seductive tone that sent icewater down most male students' spine. While the female portion felt angry about the teacher's behavior. "Oh and by the way. That idol in our first year class. Kujikawa was it," the teacher decided to pipe up. "In person, she's nothing like on the TV, so don't get your hopes up okay," Kashiwagi said almost condecendingly. Causing many to resist a face-palm. "What's so great about an idol anyway? She's just a piece of inexperienced jailbait with no brains..." the teacher started ranting.

" _And I thought King Moron was bad,_ " Yu complained in his head and he wasn't alone with those thoughts. Every single student was thinking about something similar.

"Excuse me," Viljam piped up, surprising everyone.

"Yes..., Nousku-kun was it," Kashiwagi said with a wink, pausing her rant.

"Uhhh... yes," Viljam responded clearly uncomfortable. "If... Rise Kujikawa is just... what was it you called her," Viljam asked, pretending to not remember the words.

"An inexperienced jailbait," Kashiwagi said with venom in her voice.

"Yeah that... So... if she's that, then... is she even worth talking about," Viljam said almost painfully.

" _I wonder how much it hurts him to do that,_ " Yu couldn't help but think.

Kashiwagi smiled brightly at the Finnish boy's words. "Now there's a smart boy. Everyone, please follow his example," Kashiwagi said, while radiating happiness.

For some reason, Viljam felt extremely dirty right now.

 **(Lunch Hour)**

Viljam expected people to attack him for saying what he did, but apparently only Kashiwagi didn't realize that he was just trying to shut her up. Some sent the boy their condolences for having to do something so painful, others gave him an appreciative nod.

"Dude, that was very brave of you," Yosuke said while patting the Finnish boy's back.

"...I feel dirty," Viljam said while shuddering.

"I actually miss King Moron," Yu admitted. Sure he liked the teacher about as much as everyone else, but at least he wasn't... trying to seduce them. Yu shuddered at the thought.

"Wow... Kashiwagi sounds horrible," Kanji, who was with them, commented.

"She is," Yu replied simply. "By the way Yosuke, how did it go with Teddie," Yu changed the topic.

"Easier than I thought," Yosuke said, almost cheerfully. "I told them he was a friend who had no-where to go, and my parents fell for him," Yosuke said.

"That's good," Yu said.

"So wait. They like...didn't question anything," Kanji asked skeptically.

"They did a little, but nothing I couldn't handle," Yosuke shrugged.

"So where does he sleep," Viljam asked out of curiosity.

"My closet," Yosuke answered.

"...Really?"

"It was Teddie's idea," Yosuke retorted at the weird looks he got. "Said something about 'having his own space'," the Junes boy explained.

"...Teddie has weird ideas," Viljam deadpanned.

"Says the guy who wanted my mouth sewn shut," Yosuke retorted, still a little sore about the idea.

"Oh, Kanjiii..."

"STOP IT!"

"ENOUGH!" Was the shout that ended this debate before it started. "Look let's just focus on the case," Yu said.

Viljam looked ashamed, "You're right. I'm sorry.".

"It's fine," Yosuke said, not wanting to continue.

 **(Junes Food Court. July 11th**. **After School)**

The Investigation team, with the addition of Rise had gathered in the food court.

"Urgh... finals are next week," Chie complained. "It's been a while since I've failed any subjects," the girl continued.

"Well yeah," Yosuke sighed. "If by 'a while' you mean all the time," the Junes boy joked.

"Shut up! Like you've ever seen my scores," Chie retorted.

"Also, if I remember right, you're not much better, Yosuttaja," Viljam pointed out, earning a frown from Yosuke.

"Well, Chie does have above average scores in the subjects she doesn't fail," Yukiko said, not really paying attention to Viljam's words.

"Hey! You didn't have to say that," Chie complained loudly, which earned her a sympathetic look from Viljam

Then they heard Rise giggle.

"Rise-chan!? Not you too," Chie said, feeling a little betrayed.

"Sorry, it's not you I'm laughing at," Rise said, earning questioning looks from others. "It's just that I thought it would take me awhile to find friends. But here I am with you guys," Rise said.

"We're happy to have you with us," Yu spoke for everyone. "Anyway, about King Moron," Yu returned the conversation back onto the depressing topic.

"...I'm surprised no one blamed me today," Viljam said, not sure if he was relieved or worried.

"I heard some guys in my class wondering if it was you, Vilujam-senpai," Kanji said, bursting Viljam's bubble. Viljam even ignored the fact that Kanji was still mispronouncing his name.

"I'm still bothered by the fact that he never showed up on the Midnight Channel," Yu said, ignoring the paranoid Finnish for now.

"Yeah, so far all the victims have been shown on, but why not now," Yosuke wondered too.

"I mean, it was foggy and the body was hung and all," Chie added in.

"If this person had been in my world, I would've sensed it," Teddie, who was out of his costume, said. "My nose isn't as sharp as before, but I can tell that much," the blonde boy added.

"Why would anyone kill Morooka-sensei, though," Yukiko then questioned.

"Hope it wasn't personal, because there's way too many people who hated King Moron's guts," Kanji pointed out.

"But didn't you guys say that people who get famous on TV are targeted," Rise asked, earning everyone's attention.

"Yeah, that's what we thought," Yu replied.

"Well, if the killer chooses his targets through the TV, that gives me an impression of someone who doesn't know the victims," the teen idol explained.

"Rise-chan has a point," Yukiko said with a sigh.

"Agreed," Yu agreed. "That would mean there's no point in figuring out a motive," Yu added to Rise's statement.

"You know what I thought once," Yosuke piped up. "Part of me thought that King Moron was the killer," Yosuke admitted.

"..Wh-why," Viljam asked.

Yosuke sighed at the question. "Because I've heard him say many times how 'this' and 'that' person deserves to die," the Junes boy explained. "But now I feel bad for doubting him," Yosuke finished his confession.

"He was a jerk, to put it lightly, but I don't think he would've gone that far," Yu said. "Still, now I think we owe it to King Moron to find the culprit," Yu said truthfully.

"Yeah! Let's do it," Chie exclaimed, getting pumped up.

"That won't be necessary." a familiar voice interrupted them. Everyone turned to the voice to see Naoto approaching them

"Y-you," Kanji said in surprise.

"There is no need to examine Morooka-san's case any longer," Naoto told them earning question marks.

"Why not," Yu asked, finding it hard to believe Naoto's statement.

"Apparently the police have found a suspect," Naoto informed them.

"What! Who," Viljam asked in worry.

"And how would you know," Yosuke asked in suspicion.

"I'm on this case as a special investigator by the request of the prefectural police," Naoto said, surprising everyone but Yu. "As for the suspect's identity, I haven't been informed," Naoto then answered Viljam's question."I do know he's a high schooler though," Naoto then said, causing everyone to look a little shocked at that information. Except Viljam who looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "This isn't public knowledge yet, but the suspect is not from your school," Naoto said as if responding to Viljam's panic. "The police have found evidence linking the suspect to the current case, so I expect it to only be a matter of time before he is apprehended," Naoto finished informing.

"The suspect is a high schooler," Chie said in disbelief.

"It's not me," Viljam sighed in relief. Which earned him various stares of "Really?". The Finnish had the decency to look embarrassed at the stares.

"Like I said, your outburst was irrelevant," Naoto said with a sigh. "Regardless. Soon your town will once again return to it's rustic self. Your game is over," the detective said.

"This isn't a game," Yu told the detective with a stern look, "Not for us anyway.".

"One of the victims... She meant a lot to me. How could I treat this as a game," Yosuke said in a very serious tone. "Also, we made a promise," Yosuke said, while giving Teddie a meaningful look.

The bear/boy looked happy about Yosuke remembering.

"Besides, you're the one who's playing a game," Rise said with anger, surprising Naoto, "These murders are just a puzzle to you.".

"Hmm... A game? That may be quite true," Naoto said, surprisingly understanding. "Well... I have nothing else to say. So I'll be going.". With that Naoto left.

"What's up with him," Chie wondered aloud, "He just said his piece and left.".

"I wonder myself," Yu admitted, "Maybe he felt lonely now that the police probably won't need him.".

"I suppose," Yosuke shrugged.

"I'm just happy that I'm not the suspect," Viljam said again.

"Dude, you're paranoid," Kanji deadpanned.

"Sorry.".

Seeing as the gang didn't know what to do now, they decided to call it a day.

 **(Amagi Inn(Yukiko's room). July 11th. Evening)**

"...That should be all of them," Viljam said as he put his pen down.

Since the finals were around the corner, Yukiko decided to study with Viljam. Yukiko felt some amount of relief at the fact that Viljam no longer needs help. Partly because she had some trouble tutoring, because half of the phrases in textbooks sounded like gibberish to Viljam. Now, Viljam just asks to make sure he understood right.

"Good job, Nousku-kun," Yukiko said feeling a little proud of herself. Funnily enough Yukiko even had some help from Viljam in english. It wasn't that Yukiko was bad, but there were moments where Viljam automatically corrected her. As it turns out, Viljam was pretty fluent in english as well. "So, how are you so good in english," Yukiko asked, seeing as the spelling in English and Finnish was fundamentally different.

"Many of the games I've played were in english. I _had to_ learn," Viljam answered, "It also helped that my parents knew English enough to help me.".

"How good in English are you in Finland," Yukiko asked out of curiosity.

This made the Finnish boy chuckle at a certain memory. "When I was in 9th grade, our teacher had written some phrases on the board and we had to translate them. Then she had to leave for a moment and asked me to continue where she left off," Viljam explained, earning a shocked look from Yukiko.

"What?"

"I basically had to become assistant english teacher for a moment," Viljam clarified in embarrassment.

Yukiko blinked twice, before she started having a laughing fit.

After few seconds of Yukiko laughing, Viljam started to feel uncomfortable. "It's not that funny," Viljam weakly protested.

"Sorry*giggle*. But your teacher sounded so irresponsible," Yukiko said between giggles.

"She would've been if I wasn't the best in the class. But for the record, it took every ounce of my willpower to not have a panic attack," Viljam admitted, looking embarrassed at the last phrase.

Yukiko nodded, while being just a little bit impressed at Viljam dealing with a situation like that. "Did anyone... mistreat you for your skill," Yukiko asked. She had heard that in some countries, students with good grades are bullied out of jealousy.

Viljam looked momentarily confused. "Aaa! No, English is my strongest subject, but anything else is just good," Viljam said. "Although I had to be moved to normal English classes sometimes," Viljam then said

"What do you mean 'normal' classes," Yukiko asked.

"Because I have a learning disorder I was in a school that specializes teaching such children. Although a normal school was in the same building," Viljam explained.

"Oh. I see," Yukiko said. "Umm... What's the worst case of learning disorder you have seen," Yukiko then asked carefully. While Viljam acted as a good example, she still wondered about Viljam saying he was one of the lucky ones.

Viljam looked thoughtful for a moment. "...I don't know if I should talk about this, but two students had a condition that ultimately killed them," Viljam said.

Yukiko covered her mouth in shock. "You're joking right," Yukiko said, hoping that this was just Viljam's bad idea of a joke. However, Viljam's expression never changed. "I'm sorry," Yukiko said in sympathy.

"You shouldn't be sorry about something you had nothing to do with," Viljam said. "I never talked to those particular students, nor did I see much of them. Honestly, I don't think I really understood what was going on at the time, when we held a silent moment," Viljam said with a sigh. "Can we talk about something else," Viljam then asked.

"Of course," Yukiko said in understanding. Then something came to the black haired girls mind. "Are you and Chie planning to try seeing that movie again," Yukiko asked.

"*sigh* I don't know. With all that's happened I don't know if it would be appropriate," Viljam sighed.

Yukiko nodded in understanding, but that didn't mean she was done. "Are you sure? I mean, who knows how many more days that movie will be shown," Yukiko asked.

That made Viljam think for a moment. "You're right. I should check when the movie will be shown next time and ask Chie if she still wants to go," Viljam said.

"You forgot the honorific," Yukiko couldn't help but tease.

"She's not here," Viljam said. "Sorry, but having to use honorifics has become a little tiresome so I stopped using them if the person isn't present.". Despite his words Viljam didn't look uncomfortable or at all sorry.

"That's rude," Yukiko scolded.

"Maybe, but I need some rest for my tongue," Viljam retorted.

Yukiko still didn't approve of Viljam not using honorifics just because it's tiresome, but she conceded to the fact that he was from a different culture.

"Anyway, I think I should go to bed now," Viljam said before gathering his things. "See you in the morning," Viljam said as he lightly hugged Yukiko.

"...Good night," Yukiko said, while blushing lightly. She may get cheered up by Viljam's hugs, but that doesn't mean she's used to them.

 **(Viljam's room)**

Viljam put down his books before fishing out his laptop. He needed to check if the movie theater had anymore shows of the movie Chie wanted to see. Then he had to check the train schedules and plan accordingly. Thankfully he had a rough idea of how much time it would take to walk from school to the train station.

After few minutes of double checking his idea, he nodded in approval. Then he went to bed with his plan in mind.

 **(Inaba. July 12th. Early morning)**

"This is interesting," Viljam said as yet another student who walked past them gave them second glances. What Viljam was referring to was the fact that several students saw him and Yukiko under the same umbrella. Viljam hadn't gotten his umbrella back from Chie yet, so the two had to share again.

"What if people start talking," Yukiko asked worrying that people might think they were dating or something. Of course in Yukiko's mind, Viljam was her brother, so the idea felt very weird.

"Let them. That's their business and I doubt whatever idea they get lasts," Viljam said, clearly not worried.

" _How can he be so calm about it,_ " Yukiko thought. Yesterday Viljam was terrified about people accusing him being the culprit, but when it comes to love gossip he's acting like it wasn't a big deal at all.

"Ahh! Yukiko! Nousku-kun," Chie called to the two as she sprinted next to them. She was carrying two umbrellas, one she was using and one that was still folded. "Thanks for letting me borrow your umbrella," Chie said as she handed the folded umbrella to Viljam.

"So you got a new one," Viljam asked as he accepted his umbrella back.

"Yeah, mom got me a new one, though she threatened to cancel my allowance if I broke it again," Chie said.

"Isn't that a little too harsh," Viljam asked as he stepped out of Yukiko's umbrella and opened his own.

"I don't think mom'll go through with it, but I'm still not taking chances," Chie said.

"Smart move," Viljam said. "Oh you know that movie you wanted to see," Viljam then asked Chie, seeing his chance.

"Yeah," Chie sighed, "It's a shame we didn't get to see it.". The Kung Fu loving girl was clearly disappointed.

"If we go to the movies today straight from school, we could see it today," Viljam told Chie, who visibly perked up.

"You serious," Chie asked just to be sure. Viljam nodded. That made Chie squee in happiness, before she hugged the Finnish boy. But she instantly backed off when she realized what she was doing. "...Please don't tell anyone," Chie said, with an embarrassed blush.

"...Okay," Viljam agreed a little taken back by Chie's outburst. Sure he knew Chie would like to see the movie, but not this much.

At that moment, Yukiko started to laugh. Not one of her laughing fits, but still pretty loud.

Viljam just sighed at the situation, while Chie glared at her best friend.

"What did you do to make her that happy?" Said a voice that made two out of three to turn to see Yu and Yosuke. Yosuke had a smirk, while Yu had a smile.

"Don't ask, she just started laughing," Viljam said, a little exasperated at Yukiko still laughing.

"Not that. I meant Satonaka hugging you," Yosuke clarified his question, causing Chie to go pale while Viljam's eyes turned into saucers.

"...You saw that," Viljam asked even though he knew the answer.

"Yup," Yosuke said smugly.

"So what did you do to make Satonaka-san that happy," Yu asked with a knowing look.

"I just told Chie-san that we could see the movie if we go straight from school," Viljam said, not seeing a point in hiding that.

"Nousku-kun!" Chie didn't agree with Viljam's sentiment.

"Ahh! Good for her," Yosuke said, surprising Chie a little. The green clad girl honestly expected Yosuke to tease somehow, but that last statement didn't sound like it.

"So... is it alright," Viljam asked, while looking at Yu.

Yu raised an eyebrow at the question. "Why are you asking me," the silverhaired boy asked.

"It's just... With the case and all, can we afford it," Viljam clarified his question.

Yu shook his head with a bemused smile. "Viljam. Shirogane-san told us the police have a suspect, there's nothing more we can do," Yu told the Finnish boy. "If you two want to see the movie, then I won't stop you.".

"Okay, just making sure," Viljam said.

"Shouldn't we move now," Yukiko, who had stopped laughing, asked. As soon as those words were said, everyone realized that they had stopped.

"Oh crap! Let's move everyone," Yosuke exclaimed, and with that everyone started to sprint the rest of the way.

 **(Train to Okina. July 12th. After School)**

True to their plans, Viljam and Chie managed to get into the train that would take them to Okina just in time to see the movie.

Then they heard another thunder. The rain had switched to thunder after midday. Chie of course didn't like, but she managed somehow.

"You okay," Viljam asked Chie, who looked out the window in worry.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine," Chie said, though she didn't sound convincing enough.

"Do you... need a hug," Viljam asked carefully.

Chie looked at Viljam with an annoyed expression. "I'm not a kid," Chie retorted, which earned a chuckle from Viljam. "What?".

"Sorry, you just don't sound convincing with the way you're looking at me," Viljam said with an amused look.

True enough, what Chie thought was a "mildly annoyed" expression looked like "stubborn child" to Viljam. That didn't mean Chie was going to take this in stride. "Jerk," Chie said simply and turned away.

"Sorry," Viljam said. Then an uncomfortable silence fell. Well... Uncomfortable for Viljam. "Hey, I'm sorry I said that," Viljam said after few seconds. Chie just stayed turned away, not making any sign of acknowledgment. "Chie-san please, I'm sorry," Viljam almost pleaded, thinking that Chie hated him now.

Now Chie turned around with an amused look. "Okay okay. No need to get terrified," Chie said with a smirk at her accomplishment. Making Viljam squirm.

"That wasn't nice," Viljam said, while donning a mildly annoyed expression.

Chie was about to retort, when a particularly loud thunderclap sounded out. "EEK!" Chie cried out and covered her ears in terror. Chie stayed like that for a few seconds, until she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her in a comforting hug. It didn't take much of a genious to figure out who the arms belonged to. As much as Chie wanted to rebuke Viljam for hugging her all of a sudden, it felt... nice, so she let it slide. But if the Finnish boy tried anything else, he's dead meat.

As soon as Chie finished that thought, Viljam released the hug. "Feel any better," Viljam asked.

Chie looked at Viljam to see him look back in concern. Chie merely sighed, before answering, "Yeah. Thanks.". Chie couldn't help a barely noticeable blush creeping on her cheeks.

The rest of the train ride went in a comfortable silence and even the thunder seemed to take a hint and stop. For the moment anyway.

 **(Junes. July 12th. Roughly the same time)**

Yosuke was in good mood right now. Why? Earlier that day, Yosuke's father told his son that while they like Teddie, he has to work at least part time. Of course Teddie was put in Junes to work. At first Yosuke was worried about Teddie messing things, considering how he marvels at anything new.

"Have beary nice day," Teddie said while waving at another happy child, who was walking away with her mother. Teddie was currently in his mascot costume and handing out some pamphlets. Yosuke's father had to pull a few strings to allow it, but it seemed like a good move so far. The kids loved Teddie and even some of the adults cracked a smile at the sight of the bear.

"Looks like he's earned his stay," Yosuke thought aloud as he went back to his own work.

 **(Few hours later)**

"That was fun!" Teddie cheered happily. The two were now on a break, and while Yosuke dared to leave the bear to his own devices, he still kept an eye on the bear in case he did something stupid.

"Good for you," Yosuke said in a good mood himself.

"I wanna do that again," Teddie exclaimed cheerfully.

Yosuke couldn't help but chuckle at the bear's enthusiasm. "Sure, but we're on a break now. So you better rest up and then you can continue," Yosuke told the bear.

"Okay," Teddie said, still happy. Then Teddie looked thoughtful. "What's Sensei doing right now," Teddie then asked. earning a curious look from Yosuke.

"Why do you wanna know," Yosuke asked.

"Because I haven't seen him all day. Or Chie-chan or Yuki-chan," Teddie added the last one with a dreamy look.

Yosuke rolled his eyes at that. "Sure. Well, Yu said he had something to do today. Amagi is probably working at the inn, and Satonaka's watching a movie with Viljam," Yosuke said answering all three of the bear's questions.

"Oh! Is Villy trying to score with Chie-chan," Teddie asked, eyes wide with wonder.

Yosuke couldn't help laughing at the way Teddie put it. "Maybe he is, Ted. Maybe he is," Yosuke said with a snicker.

"No fair! He got a head start," Teddie complained, much to Yosuke's growing amusement.

 **(Train bound to Inaba. July 12th. Few seconds earlier)**

"ACHOO!" Chie and Viljam sneezed in unison.

"Terveydeksi," Viljam told Chie.

The green clad girl didn't need a translation to know what that meant. Still, just to be sure..., "Did that mean, bless you," Chie asked.

"Yeah, if that's what you say when someone sneezes," Viljam replied. "Speaking of which, that was pretty good timing," Viljam said, like he was impressed.

"Yeah, hopefully we're not coming down with something," Chie said with a giggle. Then she donned a serious face as a certain thought came to her, "Or maybe someone's talking about us.".

That caused question marks come out of Viljam's head, "...Is that a Japanese thing?".

"Yup," Chie said, not even surprised that Viljam wouldn't know that. "Anyway, thanks for today," Chie thanked again. Actually, the sneezing caused the Kung Fu lover to finally settle down somewhat.

"Like I said, it's fine," Viljam said while smiling. He wouldn't say it outloud, but Viljam found Chie especially cute when she was happy. Though he still had a hard time processing the fact that the green clad girl had pulled him into a bonecrushing hug right after they exited the theater.

"And... sorry about trying to crush you," Chie said in embarrassment.

Viljam shook his head at that. "You were so happy after seeing the movie, I can understand that," Viljam said while patting Chie's head.

"...That doesn't mean you can just pat my head," Chie said with playful glare. She's currently too happy to muster any real anger.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist," Viljam said with a chuckle. "Should we... do this again sometime," Viljam then asked.

"Sure," Chie said cheerfully.

Just as Chie said that, they heard from the speakers that Inaba would be next.

"Guess we should prepare to get out," Chie then said.

"...Should I...," Viljam said, but was unable to finish that sentence.

"What?" Chie was a little confused at Viljam's embarrassed look.

"Never mind. It was stupid," Viljam said with a nervous chuckle.

Chie accepted the explanation with a raised eyebrow.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 12th. Evening)**

"Mitä minä ajattelin," Viljam questioned himself. What in the world made him nearly ask if he should walk Chie home. Not only would Chie probably say no, but also take offense to it. He knew Chie can take care of herself, but the Finnish boy still worried a little.

"Tulen kaistapäiseksi," Viljam grumbled, before hitting himself with a pillow. Oh well, a good night's sleep should clear his head out of these stupid thoughts.

* * *

 **AN: I may have added a couple cliches, but they're cliches for a reason, right? Right?**

 **Anyway, I hope I still deliver well enough to keep my few followers happy.**

 **Also a fair warning, I've gotten into Tokyo Mirage Session, so I might focus on that. The game itself proves something about Atlus: You don't have to be crazy to work there, but it helps XD. Other than that, the game is very interesting, although I've cried a few times when I lost a battle and hadn't saved in a while.**

 **Fun fact of the day: Viljam being a temporary assistant English teacher. That happened to me. That's top ten in most nervewracking moments of my life.**

 **Translations:**

Mitä minä ajattelin= **What was I thinking**

Tulen kaistapäiseksi= **I'm going crazy**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **As usual, translations are found at the bottom**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. July 19th. Morning)**

Chie's head felt empty. It was only day one of the Finals and she felt like she was screwed. Did she try to study? Yes, she did. With Yukiko and Yu no less, but unfortunately it seems like those study hours have been rendered null and void now. She took a quick glance, behind her to see Viljam going at it, pausing for just a moment, before he continued.

" _I feel so ashamed,_ " Chie cried in her head. Viljam had a handicap when it came to studying, but he still didn't look like he had any problems.

If only she knew. Viljam had skipped several questions already and had only answered what came up to him immediately. Now however, he ran out of easy problems and was tackling the more difficult ones. " _Ahhaa! Keksinpäs,_ " The Finnish boy thought as he remembered another answer. Remembering the right answers was only the second hardest part. The hardest part was understanding the questions. On some questions, Viljam didn't understand what he was supposed to do, but after reading the questions several times over, he managed to understand. Just another problem that came with having a learning disorder he had to overcome.

Next to Viljam, Yosuke was also going at it to the best of his ability and spared one glance at Viljam. Then the Junes boy switched his gaze to Yu and Yukiko, who seemed to be on fire. If the speed of their pens was any indication. " _Please let me at least pass,_ " Yosuke prayed in his head.

 **(Yasogami High. July 23rd. After School)**

"Finally it's over," Yosuke said, while doing a little stretch. Then he yawned, "I'm so sleepy.".

"Can't blame you," Chie actually agreed with the Junes boy.

Viljam was holding his head, like he was in pain, "My head hurts a little.".

"That's something to worry," Yu said seriously, but his smile betrayed his amusement.

Chie then turned to Yukiko. "Hey, for the third question on the English test, what phrase did you choose," the green clad girl asked Yukiko.

"Hmm... Oh I went with 'used to'," Yukiko replied.

"Correct," Viljam commented, still holding his head.

"Urgh! Wrong again," Chie muttered, utterly dismayed.

"Satonaka doesn't go abroad anytime soon," Yosuke snickered, earning a glare from Chie.

"Sinä et ole sen parempi," Viljam muttered to himself.

Yu shook his head at their antics, before he saw Rise and Kanji approaching. "Ahh. Hi there," Yu greeted the two first years.

"Yo," Kanji replied with a tired tone.

"No more encores," Rise said, also sounding tired. "I mean, hi everyone," the red haired girl corrected herself.

"I take it, you didn't do very well," Yu stated sympathetically, although the look on their faces told the silverhaired boy all he needed to know.

"More losers huh," Yosuke said with a smug grin, also taking note of their demeanor

"Why do I have to learn English!? I can always ask for a translator," Rise retorted.

"24/7," Viljam asked, earning everyone's attention, "Because I'm pretty sure that the translators won't appreciate it, when you call them from somewhere, where it's night time here.".

Rise was so tempted to respond, but she decided to just ignore the jab. "How did you do Yu-senpai," the teen idol asked with a smile.

"You just wait and see," was Yu's simple answer.

"Wow, are you that confident," Rise said.

"Enough about the exams already," Kanji butted in, much to Rise's chagrin. "Any of you know what's up with the murder case," the punk asked.

"I've been thinking about that for a while actually," Yu said. "Can we meet up at our special headquarters," the silverhaired boy asked everyone.

"Sure," Yosuke spoke for everyone.

 **(Junes Food Court. July 23rd. Few minutes later)**

"Now that the police have a suspect, can we actually do anything," Viljam decided to ask the question that was weighting everyone.

"Actually, what I'm about to talk about concerns the suspect," Yu said, earning everyone's attention. "Shirogane-san told us about a week ago that the police have a suspect, right," Yu asked, which earned various confirmations from everyone.

Viljam was the first to catch onto something in Yu's question. "Now that you mention it, why hasn't he been arrested yet," Viljam asked.

"Beats me," Yosuke shrugged, "Maybe the police haven't gotten to the guy.".

"We still should've heard something by now," Viljam pointed out.

"Precisely," Yu agreed, "If the police have a suspect I think they should've arrested them by now.".

"Well I haven't heard anything on the news or otherwise," Kanji pointed out.

"I haven't heard anything either," Yukiko admitted.

"Me neither," Chie added in.

"Or me," Rise finished.

"So the question is, why hasn't the police made an arrest," Yosuke said in thought. "Hopefully it's not because they haven't found the guy.".

Just as Yosuke said that, Yu noticed Adachi not too far from them.

"*sigh* It's nice to have a suspect, but where the hell is he," Adachi muttered to himself outloud. After letting out another heavy sigh Adachi turned to see the investigation team staring at him. Adachi blinked once, before realizing what he said just a moment ago. "Y-you guys didn't hear what I just said, did you," Adachi stammered nervously, earning blank stares from everyone. "*ahhaha* This case is as good as solved. So don't you worry kids," Adachi said, before running off in a hurry.

"Did he just babble that they haven't found the guy," Viljam asked the obvious.

"Sounds like it," Yu confirmed the said obvious.

"And now, I'm _really_ worried," Yosuke said. "Still, if the police got a search warrant on the guy, then maybe we should stay out of it," the Junes boy said with a sigh.

"Yeah, you're right," Yu sighed, conceding to the point.

At that moment Rise decided to pipe up, "Oh, I just remembered. There was a question in the test I didn't get. I think it was, ' The chemical formula HCHO, used for silver mirror reactions. It's 40% solution is known as formalin.' And the question was, 'What is HCHO?'.".

"It's formaldehyde," Yu answered almost instantly.

"Seriously," Rise asked with widened eyes. "I chose acetic acid. Duh, of course it couldn't be vinegar," the teen idol sighed at her mistake. Then Rise turned her attention to Kanji, "What about you, Kanji? You had the same question, right," the girl asked with a devious smile.

"Shut up! And don't call me by my first name," Kanji complained.

"I take it you didn't get it right either," Yu stated with a knowing look.

To Kanji's credit, he simply turned his gaze away with an annoyed look.

"Anyways," Chie decided to interrupt this conversation. "Rise-chan, why don't you ask Yukiko to help you study," the green clad girl suggested.

Rise looked like she was considering it, "Sure, but wouldn't you like to study with a senpai of opposite sex?". Then she gave Yu a meaningful look, "Yu-senpai, I'm not a nuisance to you, am I?".

Yu was a little taken back by the question. "..Uhhh.".

"Damn. This girl is dangerous," Chie commented.

Then Rise seemed to realize something. "Oh right. Chie-senpai, you could try studying with Nousku-senpai, right," Rise said with a sweet smile.

"Wh-What's that got to do with anything," Chie almost cried out.

"Besides, I have a learning disorder," Viljam pitched in, earning surprised look from Rise and Kanji, for they weren't on the loop about it. "Without Yukiko, I would've failed already," The Finnish boy admitted with slight shame.

Yukiko answered by patting Viljam's head with what she thought was affection. "But you did help me with English," Yukiko said encouragingly.

"Whuh? You've been studying with Yukiko-senpai? Since when," Rise almost demanded.

Yukiko glanced at Rise with a confused look, until she remembered what the problem was. "Oh right, you haven't heard. Nousku-kun is my g-guest-brother for the year," Yukiko stammered just a little, still finding it a little embarrassing.

"Guest-brother," Rise questioned.

"Yukiko is my host-sister," Viljam said, like that would clarify everything.

"Aww. That sounds cute." Apparently it did.

"Let's change the subject," Chie quickly intervened, not wanting _this_ conversation again. "How's Teddie," Chie asked Yosuke.

Yosuke grinned at the question."Oh right, I haven't told you yet," Yosuke said, while pointing towards another part of the food court. Everyone looked to the direction, and there was Teddie, in his costume giving balloons to children. "In exchange for staying at my house, he's now the official store mascot," Yosuke explained.

Kanji looked impressed, "So he's hiding in plain sight. Reverse psychology, huh?".

"You could say, that," Yosuke said, before getting up. "Now, since I don't have anything better to do, I'm gonna go bug him," Yosuke said with a slightly evil glint in his eyes.

"Oh, oh! Me too," Chie said, getting excited of the horrible things she can do to the unsuspecting bear.

"Can I join you guys," Viljam asked, having some machinations of his own in his head.

"C-can I feel his soft fur," Kanji butted in with an eager look.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Yosuke shrugged, and with that, everyone moved to tease the bear.

Except Yu, who was held up by Rise. "Hey, senpai. Now that I'm getting the hang of school, I want to go out and see the sights," the teen idol said. "But I tend to be recognized where ever I go, so...," Rise let the sentence hang.

"Sure, I can show you around. But don't expect much expertize from me," Yu agreed to the unsaid request.

"Thank you, Yu-senpai," Rise said happily. With that, the two walked towards Teddie, who's fur was currently being ruffled by Viljam and Kanji. Much to the bear's chagrin.

 **(Dojima household. July 23rd. Evening)**

Unfortunately for Yu, the evening news didn't tell anything about the suspect like he had hoped. Worse yet, Nanako became anxious over the culprit not being caught yet. Yu however managed to comfort the little girl.

" _If only uncle was here,_ " Yu thought as he hugged Nanako lightly. Of course Dojima would be out at work right now. Especially now that they have a search warrant for the culprit, but Yu still worried if the police can catch the guy. After all, the culprit isn't something that the police have ever dealt with.

Thinking about this now is useless, so Yu decided to tuck Nanako in before going to bed himself.

 **(Samegawa Floodplain. July 24th. Daytime)**

Yu wasn't sure what he would do during the day, but thankfully Kanji had asked him for something.

So here Yu was, standing next to Kanji, with various knitted dolls on a table. However, one of them was a relatively big bear plushie. Kanji had made some of these as an exercise and now wanted a second opinion on them. Yu hadn't judged Kanji on his hobby, so the punk trusted him on this.

"These are well made," Yu commented after feeling one of the dolls in his hand, "But what's with the bear plushie," Yu couldn't help but ask, after all, that one seemed a little out of place.

"Had some fake fur around and thought I'd try something with it," Kanji admitted in embarrassment.

"It looks soft," Yu said, before trying for himself. "It is soft, you could probably make a fortune selling these," the silverhaired boy said truthfully.

"It's not that amazing," Kanji said, not used to hearing compliments about his work. Not even after hearing them from the kid, for whom he made a strap doll not too long ago.

"Maybe not, but it's something to consider," Yu said as he put the soft bear down.

"What's all this about?" the two heard suddenly, causing them to turn quickly to see Viljam had snuck up on them somehow.

"Th-this isn't what it looks like," Kanji immediately said defensively.

"You two are checking stuffed animals," Viljam said with a straight face. "Where are they from," Viljam asked as he picked one to examine.

Kanji was sweating bullets as he was afraid to admit that he made them. Yu caught onto this and gave Kanji a supportive nod. "I... I made them, and they're knitted," Kanji admitted, bracing himself to be laughed at.

Instead, the punk earned a wide eyed look from Viljam, which kept focusing on Kanji and the little doll in his hand. "Has anyone said you're awesome," Viljam asked, surprising Kanji. "I mean, you did say you were good at this, but I didn't expect something like this," Viljam added, clearly impressed.

Now Kanji's face flushed at the compliment. "Uhh...," Kanji tried to speak up.

Yu however decided to capitalize on this. "See, Kanji. That's two people saying good things about your hobby," the silverhaired boy said, making Kanji feel more embarrassed.

"Hei, Kanji. Can I feel that bear," Viljam asked as he eyed the bear plushie, snapping the punk out of it.

"Huh? Oh yeah... sure," Kanji gave his permission, and with that Viljam picked up the stuffed bear.

Yu and Kanji were looking in facination as Viljam turned the bear every-which-way, trying to see it from different angles. Then the Finnish boy squeezed the plushie lightly all over with his hands. Then Kanji and Yu got curious looks as Viljam looked around as if checking that they were alone. Then Viljam hugged the stuffed bear. Scratch that, he was cuddling it against his cheek while muttering something in Finnish that sounded like baby talk.

If the two had understood Finnish, they would know that Viljam was calling the stuffed bear with every cutesy word in Finnish that he could think of. The only common thing the two could barely make out of his gibberish were "nallukka", "pörrönen" ja "halittava". Then Viljam put the bear down, before letting out a content sigh. "I needed that," Viljam said happily. Then he noticed that Kanji and Yu were staring at him, blinking dumbly at the spectacle that happened less than ten seconds ago. "What," Viljam asked as if he didn't understand what was wrong, which he didn't.

"You were cuddling that stuffed toy," Yu said, not exactly disturbed, but not used to someone displaying that kind of affection for a stuffed toy. In a public place.

Viljam looked at Yu like _he_ was the weird one. "I see something cute, I wanna hug it. I can't help it," Viljam said like it was obvious.

"Are you... always so open about liking cute things," Kanji asked, having hard time believing no one has given Viljam crap about his likes.

"Only when I'm with people who I know won't make fun of it," Viljam replied. "I mean, if I did something like that all the time, I'm pretty sure someone would call the white coats," Viljam said with a chuckle.

"Did anyone in any of your previous schools not find it weird," Yu asked in slight curiosity.

"If they did, they never said anything," Viljam answered honestly. "Besides, someone who hates cute things is a soulless monster if you ask me," the Finnish boy added seriously.

"I see," Yu said, slightly impressed by Viljam's view. Actually, now Yu could picture Kanji if he was more open about his hobbies. "Say, are you any good with sewing," Yu asked out of curiosity.

"Haven't tried since rag class," Viljam replied.

"Rag class," Kanji asked, not liking the way Viljam said it.

"Textile class. We learned to use a sewing machine and some basic uses of a needle. We called it rag class," Viljam explained.

Yu was mildly surprised at that, but he supposed it was good to know just in case. "Was that class for all students," Yu decided to ask.

"Yes, though after 4th grade we were introduced to woodwork class. Up to 7th grade, we alternated between the two. Then we got to choose which class we would attend until graduation," Viljam explained. "For the record, I chose woodwork along the rest of the guys. Sewing didn't interest me," Viljam added as an after thought.

"I see," Yu commented. "But Kanji here likes sewing," the silverhaired boy said.

"Hey!" Kanji protested, for he forgot that Viljam already knew that.

"I know, he told us," Viljam said simply, earning slightly surprised look from Kanji.

"You don't... find it weird," Kanji asked carefully.

"No. Should I," Viljam asked innocently.

"No! I mean, no you shouldn't," Kanji stammered, causing Viljam to tilt his head in confusion of Kanji's behavior.

Then Viljam's eyes widened as he remembered something. " Oh right! I was supposed to meet Chie. I'll see you guys later," Viljam said quickly before hurrying off, leaving bewildered Kanji and curious Yu.

"Phew," Kanji sighed in relief. "Good thing he left," Kanji said a little relieved.

"Why so," Yu asked.

"Because, I don't know if he was going to make fun of me," Kanji said with a heavier sigh.

"Kanji, you heard him. He doesn't think your hobbies are weird. And even if he did, you saw how he cuddled that bear," Yu pointed out, now finding Viljam's antics funny.

"Yeah, you're right," Kanji conceded with a smile as he remembered how Viljam was just a few moments ago. "Say, what's he gonna do with Satonaka-senpai," Kanji then wondered.

"Beats me," Yu said with a shrug, after all Viljam wasn't wearing his "training clothes". "Maybe they're on a date," Yu said jokingly.

"When did they become a couple!?" Yu resisted a face palm at Kanji's lack of understanding.

"I was joking," Yu said. Kanji thankfully had the decency to look sheepish. "Anyway, I stand behind my words, you could make a fortune with these," Yu said, and from there the two went into a comfortable conversation.

 **(Junes. July 24th. Daytime)**

For a change, Yosuke wasn't at Junes today because he had to work. This time, he felt like checking a couple magazines and see if he felt like getting any. His browsing was interrupted, when he noticed a certain pair moving to the women's clothing section.

Suddenly finding his previous activity less important, Yosuke decided to follow Viljam and Chie. " _Why are those two here,_ " Yosuke thought. Chie might have an excuse, but why was she bringing Viljam with her. Could it be they were on a real date now? Well, Chie looked like she was browsing clothes, while Viljam just stood aside. Occasionally, Chie would pull out a shirt or other clothing, and ask something from Viljam. Probably if it looked good. Judging by Chie's reaction, the Finnish boy didn't say anything too flattering, but nothing insulting either.

" _If only I could hear, what they're talking about,_ " Yosuke thought, but if he moved closer, he'll risk being spotted.

 **(With Viljam and Chie)**

"What do you mean, 'it's fine'," Chie asked, getting annoyed at Viljam's responses.

"Sorry, but you're asking the wrong guy," Viljam admitted in slight shame. The Finnish boy was still wondering, why they were here. Chie called him out to town, but she didn't say why. Then the green clad girl said she wanted to go clothes shopping. Come to think of it, why did Chie ask Viljam for that kind of thing and not Yukiko. The Finnish boy's host-sister would probably be a better judge than him.

Chie let out a sigh at that. The time, they took Viljam clothes shopping to Okina should've already clued her in on how clueless he was about women's fashion. Then again... "Haven't your sisters ever asked your opinion on their clothes," Chie asked having a hard time believing Viljam's words.

"Just because I live in a female dominated house, doesn't mean I'm an expert on their clothing," Viljam retorted.

"But you should be able to give your opinion as a guy," Chie retorted back, ignoring the wording Viljam used.

Viljam had a confused look, "I'm... not sure what you mean.".

Now Chie resisted a face-palm. Is Viljam really that dense? Part of Chie thinks that he's just playing dumb. That time he came up with how to fool that peeping tom supports that theory... Or is there some kind of switch in his head that needs to be flipped? "Let's forget that, just tell me if these look bad on me," Chie said, while pulling out a couple shirts that caught her interest.

"Not really, but why're they both green," Viljam asked in curiosity.

Chie glanced at the shirts and it was true, they were both green. Different shades, but still. " Is that a problem," Chie asked, almost offended.

"No, but I've always seen you wearing green. Is that your favorite color," Viljam decided to ask.

"Yeah, but maybe I should try different colors," Chie said, while having a thoughtful look, "Hopefully I won't look weird.".

"Is that even possible," Viljam asked seriously, earning a mildly confused look.

"What do you mean?".

"Is it even possible for you to look weird," The Finnish boy clarified.

Chie actually rolled her eyes at that comment, before moving to pick something else. She knew Viljam probably wouldn't say anything too meaningful, but she still asks.

 **(Junes Food court. Some time later)**

Chie didn't find anything worth buying this time, but at least she got to eat some steak now. With Viljam no less.

Though during her feast, Chie was wondering if this was a good idea. Ever since the camp out, Chie was wondering if Viljam really thought she was pretty or if he was just being nice. The fact that Viljam calls her cute whenever he pleases doesn't exactly clear him of that suspicion. Also, she still remembered how her old classmate Takeshi said that her "sunny" personality was the only thing going for her.

" _Is it true,_ " Chie couldn't help but think.

Then she decided to glance up at Viljam, who was happily munching on his steak. Then Chie decided, only one way to find out. "Nousku-kun," Chie called the Finnish boy, earning his attention, "Why did you call me...pretty?".

Viljam looked confused for a moment, before he remembered the only time he had said that. "Umm...Why are you asking," Viljam answered awkwardly, still embarrassed about Yosuke tricking him.

"Because.. I want to know why you called me that," Chie said, mentally slapping herself for giving such a lame excuse.

"...Well...You are," Viljam said, not sure if he should've said that.

"Why?".

"What do you mean why," Viljam said, genuinely confused.

Chie felt like face-palming. What was so hard to understand? "Why would you call me pretty," Chie tried again, trying to have patience.

Now Viljam was more confused. "...Why wouldn't I call you pretty," Viljam asked, unable to come up with anything else.

Chie was gaping like a fish at the question. That question carried more weight than Viljam realized, because to Chie it sounded like Viljam pretty much called her pretty again.

"What did I say," Viljam asked, getting worried at the look Chie was giving him, "Did I say something wrong?".

The Kung Fu loving girl shook her head to gather her wits again. "No. I'm just... not used to being called pretty," Chie admitted in embarrassment.

"Why not," Viljam asked with that innocent look again.

" _How does he do that,_ " Chie thought, but still managed to focus. "Because... I'm not," Chie said, regretting that she gave a lame excuse like that.

Now Viljam frowned. "Who said that," Viljam asked. Chie just turned her head away refusing to answer. "Chie-san, whoever said that is wrong. You are pretty, and... Well... loveable," Viljam said having a furious blush after letting out the last part in a tiny voice.

However, Chie still caught it. Blushing herself. Chie hated it. Hated that Viljam was able to make her react like this so easily. But she also felt grateful about the Finnish boy's words. "Thanks," Chie said. "And it's not that someone said that but...," From there Chie explained what her old classmate said, with Viljam listening intently.

Unbeknownst to them, Yosuke had followed them all the way to the food court. Thankfully for the two, Yosuke decided to take a hint and leave before he heard anything too private.

 **(Chie's house. July 24th. Evening)**

Chie felt very happy right now.

She wasn't so sure why she even wanted to hang out with Viljam specifically... Okay fine, she knew why, she had started to like the Finnish boy.

Chie wasn't too sure of why she began to like him, but she doesn't mind it. The fact that Viljam seems to at least think she's pretty helps alot. Yes, it was official, Chie acknowledges that Viljam at least thinks she's pretty. But that raises a question of why would Viljam like her. Other than her supposedly being pretty(Chie felt her heart race at that thought), he also thinks she's loveable. Whatever that means.

Still, Chie was at least grateful about what he said about Takeshi, after telling about the incident some time ago.

 **(Flashback)**

 _"So he basically said that, Yukiko looks better when she's unhappy and expected you to be all rainbows and sunshine about it," Viljam asked with a raised eyebrow._

 _"Yeah," Chie said, still a little miffed at it. Of course, there was more than that, but Viljam didn't need to know that._

 _Viljam started laughing. "Can anyone be that stupid," Viljam asked through his laughter, clearly amused at this Takeshi's lack of common sense. Common sense for Viljam anyway._

 **(Back to the present)**

At first Chie felt almost offended at Viljam laughing, but the moment he said why, she realized that it did sound funny.

With these happy thoughts, Chie went to bed.

 **(Yasogami High. July 25th. After School)**

The test scores were posted in the hallway, and as Chie expected, she didn't do too well.

Yu on the other hand was on the top again, with Yukiko second.

And Viljam? Well, he was once again in the top ten.

While Chie felt happy for Yu and Viljam, she still felt a little down about her score. It wasn't bad, but it could've been better.

Now however, was a time for celebration, because. "Ahh! We're finally free," Yosuke said.

"We still have one more day tomorrow, before summer vacation," Yu pointed out.

"Yeah, but even that won't be much of a school day," Yosuke said, refusing to lose his good mood.

"I miss home," Viljam sighed.

"Why so," Chie asked in curiosity.

"Because Finnish students would already be on summer vacation," the Finnish boy said with envy, earning a curious look from Yosuke.

"Oh, your summer vacation would be July," Yosuke asked in curiosity.

"From the end of May, to halfway August," Viljam corrected, earning shocked looks from Chie and Yosuke.

"You got summer vacation for two and half months," Chie exclaimed in disbelief. "Damn! I wish I was born in Finland," Chie whined.

"But Chie that would mean, we wouldn't be friends," Yukiko pointed out sadly.

"ACK! Sorry Yukiko I didn't mean that," Chie quickly apologized.

"Anyway," Yosuke changed the subject, "Why don't we go to the beach on summer vacation? My motorcycle's fixed now," Yosuke suggested.

"That actually sounds good," Yu agreed.

"You guys have motorcycles!? That's cool," Exclaimed Rise who had just arrived with Kanji.

"Your scooter's fixed," the said punk exclaimed in surprise. "I'm surprised they could fix it after what Hanako-senpai did," the punk said earning confused looks from the red and green girl, as well as Viljam.

"Did something happen with Hanamura and Hanako-san," Chie asked, wondering what business Yosuke could have with that girl of all people.

"He was striking out with the ladies and got his scooter busted up," Kanji said, earning shocked looks from the trio.

"Whoa! Hanamura's after Hanako-san," Chie exclaimed in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"I-I'll... back you up," Yukiko said supportively, though she was just as shocked.

"THE HELL I AM! She freaking destroyed my scoo-And why're you looking at me like that," Yosuke asked angrily from Viljam, who was staring at him with a pitying look.

"You shouldn't let your desparation-" "I AM NOT DESPARATE!" Yosuke roared.

Various reactions came from that. Viljam nearly jumped out of his seat in fear. Yu was desperately holding his laughter, lest Yosuke pointed out his blunders during the pick up contest. Yukiko and Chie gave a horrified look at Yosuke for being so desperate. Kanji snickered at the Junes boy's misery. Rise inched away from Yosuke.

Yosuke wanted to roar some more, but instead decided to take the mature route and take in a few calming breaths. In with the good, out with the bad. In with the good, out with the bad. One more time, in with the good, out with the bad. Now that Yosuke was calm, he could speak. "I was talking about going to the beach on summer vacation. Going by a train would be a pain, but a motorcycle...," Yosuke let the sentence hang, completely calm once again.

"Well, I haven't been to the beach in a long time," Yukiko said in thought.

Chie had a dreamy look as she started to list her favorite things about the beach, "The bright sun, the glistening waves, that luscious scent drifting from the nearby stands, the dripping of meat juices...". And now Chie's mouth watered.

"Is food all you can think about," Yosuke asked with a sweatdrop.

Everyone's attention was turned to Yu's snapping fingers, that were right next to daydreaming Viljam's ear.

After two more snaps, Viljam woke up with a start. "häh," the Finnish boy sounded out, before glancing at others. "Sorry, what did I miss," Viljam asked.

"Nothing," Yu said in slight amusement, "Just making sure you're still with us.".

"Aa," Was Viljam's intelligent response.

"Hey, why don't we get our licenses too. It's just a written test right," Rise said, staying on the topic.

"We can't we're too young," Kanji pointed out.

Rise gave Kanji a pitying look, "Sorry Kanji, but my birthday was last month. So I'm sixteen now.".

"That's cheating," Kanji complained.

Rise ignored Kanji and turned to Yu. "Ahh, but sitting behind Yu-senpai sounds great too. I wanna squeeze in close," Rise said dreamily, making Yu feel just a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me remind you that it's illegal to have two people ride on a motorcycle," Yosuke rained on Rise's parade.

This however, made Viljam have a look of realization. "Hetkonen! If that's true, then how were you going to execute your up close and personal plan," Viljam asked.

"The what," Chie asked in suspicion. "Hanamura, what's he talking about," Chie asked, giving Yosuke the stink eye.

"Nothing! I have no idea what he's talking about," Yosuke said, while chuckling nervously.

"Anyway..," Yu butted in, saving Yosuke's skin, "..you guys could get your licenses, it should only take about a week.".

Yukiko looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's supposed to be for work, but there's a scooter at our inn," Yukiko said, "I think I can ask if I could use it.".

"We got one as gift at the office, that's just standing around," Rise chimed in, "I bet I could borrow it if I asked.".

"This is turning out great," Yosuke said getting excited about this plan. Then he turned his gaze to Chie, "How about you, Satonaka.".

"Scooter huh," Chie mumbled with a thoughtful look. "I might be in luck," the green clad girl said with a huge grin, " One of our relatives loves motorcycles. He might have a scooter I could borrow.".

"That leaves us with one problem though," Yu said, while looking at Viljam.

Viljam sighed as he realized what Yu meant. "Yeah, I doubt I could get a license since I'm not from here," the Finnish boy said in slight depression.

"Actually, Viljam could get a license," Yosuke piped up, earning looks from others," It just won't be valid in Finland.".

"How do you know," Viljam asked with guarded hope.

"I checked," Yosuke replied with a cheeky grin. "If we can get a motorcycle for you from somewhere, then our problems are solved.".

"That might be a problem," Viljam sighed.

Chie looked thoughtful. "Well, it's a stretch, but maybe my cousin has two scooters," Chie offered.

"It's worth looking into, but let's still assume we have a problem," Yu agreed with Chie's idea.

"Hold up, what about Teddie," Kanji asked, remembering the bear.

"Well... If he doesn't move, he could pass as luggage," Yosuke shrugged.

"Yeah..., that's stretching it," Kanji shot the idea down.

"Well if we can't get him on with one of us, we could just strap him on wheels and tow him," Yosuke suggested.

At that moment, Yukiko snrked. "*ahhaha* Teddie... On wheels*ahhahaha* Roller skates*ahhahaha*," Yukiko managed to say between laughs, before going into a laughing fit.

Everyone sweatdropped, not understanding what was so funny. With the exception of Viljam, who looked amused. Then the Finnish boy looked like he just made a discovery of the century, before he started laughing too.

"Okay I'll bite, what's funny," Chie asked Viljam, even though she thought she would regret it.

"Teddie *ehheheh* served on wheels *kihhhihihi*," Viljam said through his laughter.

"What kind of image does he have," Yosuke wondered aloud mildly disturbed.

"I think it's better if we don't question it," Yu said, wanting to spare everyone's sanity.

"I'm going to get my license," Rise said cheerfully, ignoring Yukiko and Viljam. "I've been to beach many times for pin-up shoots, but it's been a while since I've gone for fun," the teen idol added.

"Oh my gosh," Yosuke exclaimed, just as Yukiko and Viljam finally calmed down. "Does this mean, I get to see Risette herself in a swimsuit," the Junes boy asked eagerly.

"Would you please make up your mind on who you're after," Viljam said, earning laughs from anyone that wasn't Yosuke. "What did I say," Viljam asked, not realizing what was funny.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Yu replied, still amused at the un-intentional(?) jab at Yosuke.

"Hey who're you looking forward to seeing in a swimsuit, Senpai," Rise asked the silverhaired boy.

Yu was not prepared to answer that kind of question. "...I'd rather not say," Yu replied, not wanting to paint a target on his back.

"Aww..., please," Rise pouted cutely.

"If he doesn't want to say, then don't force him," Viljam said, though he didn't sound remotely concerned.

Yosuke then got a devious grin. "Why don't you tell us, who you want to see," Yosuke said with an evil grin.

"None of your business," Viljam said... and realized how badly he worded it.

"So there _is_ someone. Who is it," Yosuke prodded with a sinister grin.

Viljam looked like he had resigned himself to his fate, before getting up from his desk and walking to Yosuke with slumped shoulders. Then he grabbed the Junes boy's nose and twisted it.

"OWWWWWW!" Yosuke jerked back and Viljam lost his grip on the nose. "Why'd you do that for," Yosuke complained while rubbing his abused wind cutter.

"To shut the faucet. Why else," Viljam said with a straight face. That earned another round of laughs from everyone.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, but I get the last laugh when you start staring at her," Yosuke said in anger to Viljam.

The Finnish boy opened his mouth to... Nope! He was not falling for that again. "Nice try," Viljam said with a victorious grin.

"Am I missing something," Rise asked, getting curious.

"Nothing important," Yu said quickly.

"Okay, now I'm curious," Rise said, getting increasingly suspicious.

Unfortunately for Rise, Yu didn't want to talk about another scheme which he allowed Yosuke to talk himself into. Which ended in being dumped into freezing river, where King Moron was puking his guts out.

 **(Dojima Household. July 26th. Evening)**

After yesterday's initial planning, the gang ironed out their plan today. Yukiko also mentioned that they should check the Midnight Channel just in case. It was about time that a rainy night came along.

Yu was waiting patiently for the clock to strike midnight in just a few more seconds.

Then the screen lit up. The setting, seemed to be some kind of arena with someone appearing on the screen. The picture was sharp now, so that would mean the person is already inside the TV. Speaking of the person in the TV, it was a boy about Yu's age.

"You all think you can see me," the boy said creepily, "You think you know everything about me. Then try and catch me.". With those words the screen turned black.

"Who was that," Yu wondered aloud.

Right after that question, Yu's phone rang. " _Hey, did you see that,_ " Yosuke asked from the other end of the line. " _Who was that guy,_ " the Junes boy continued his line of questioning.

"I've never seen him before," Yu replied, just as confused.

" _Have you seen him on the news or any other programs,_ " Yosuke then asked, " _Because I haven't._ ".

Yu shook his head, not that Yosuke could see it, "No, I haven't seen him on TV before either.".

" _Yosuke! Yosuke!_ " Yu heard from Yosuke's end, it was probably Teddie. " _Alright! Alright!_ " That was definitely Yosuke. " _Look, I'm gonna give the phone to Teddie,_ " Yosuke said to the phone before doing just that.

" _Sensei, I've finally seen the Midnight Channel with my own eyes,_ " Teddie said excitedly, " _Now I finally know what's going on!_ ".

That got Yu interested, "What did you find out?".

" _That guy's suppressed emotions are resonating with my world, which are picked up by the TVs here,_ "Teddie explained, causing Yu to nod in understanding.

"Meaning, that no one has been filming them," Yu concluded.

" _Exactly, Sensei! Mystery solved,_ " Teddie exclaimed, happy to be useful. But then Teddie sounded serious, " _But that boy must already be on the other side. What're we gonna do._ "

"We're going in to get him out. After we device a plan," Yu said calmly. If the boy was inside the TV, then there would be a new place to explore. That on the other hand would mean new dangers. And that's not even accounting...

" _That's enough Ted! Now give me the phone!_ " Yosuke's voice interrupted Yu's thoughts. " _Okay, how could this guy already be inside, what happened to the blurry image,_ " Yosuke asked, even though Teddie was still protesting in the background.

"Good question. But did you hear what he said, 'try and catch me'," Yu pointed out, "Also, do you think he looked like a high-schooler?".

" _Huh? Now that you mention it, yeah he doe-Ted get off my face,_ " Yosuke shouted the last one angrily, before Yu heard someone being shoved away. " _Sorry. As I was saying... Wait, you don't think,_ " Yosuke asked getting where Yu was going with his line of questioning.

"I think this is our guy, but let's not jump to conclusions just yet," Yu said.

" _Yeah, you're right. That phrase could mean anything,_ " Yosuke said, but didn't sound entirely convinced.

"Anyway, let's talk about this tomorrow," Yu said before hanging up. Just as Yu was about to put the phone away, it rang again. "Satonaka-san," Yu muttered the caller id aloud, before answering.

" _Finally got through,_ " Yu heard Chie say. " _Hanamura's line was busy too,_ " the green clad girl said.

"Yeah, we were talking just a moment ago," Yu said.

" _That explains it. Anyway I was talking to Yukiko just a moment ago. Any idea who that guy is,_ " Chie asked the silverhaired boy.

Yu gave Chie a quick recap about his suspicions about the guy and Teddie's discovery.

" _Oh? If that's true then what should we do,_ " Chie asked, not sure how to take this information.

"Let's talk more tomorrow, can you inform Amagi-san and Viljam," Yu asked the green clad girl.

" _Sure, but I might have to do it through Yukiko, Nousku-kun doesn't answer his phone,_ " Chie said with a sigh.

"He doesn't? Well, as long as he gets the message then that's fine," Yu said, though he wondered why Viljam wouldn't answer. "Anyway, good night," Yu wished for Chie, and the green clad girl replied with the same, before they hung up.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 26th. Evening)**

Yukiko had just arrived in front of Viljam's room and knocked... No answer. Yukiko knocked again... Again no answer.

"Sorry for disturbing," Yukiko called loudly, before opening the door. After a quick glance around the room, Yukiko noticed three things. One, Viljam's futon was laid out, but the Finnish boy himself didn't occupy it. Two, the said Finnish boy was instead laying on his couch, covered in his blanket. Three, after moving closer, Yukiko realized that Viljam had fallen asleep.

"Nousku-kun? Are you sleeping," Yukiko asked, but of course Viljam doesn't answer in his sleep. Yukiko sighed a little. Did he watch the Midnight Channel, or did he fall asleep before that. Part of Yukiko wanted to wake the boy up so he would move to his futon. But then she remembered Chie's little story. The Amagi heiress couldn't help, but blush at imagining it happening to her. In the end Yukiko decided not to risk it, and left the room. After all, Viljam seemed comfortable enough.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Translations:**

Sinä et ole sen parempi= **You're not any better**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

 **AN: Sorry if I took long. Summer flu got in the way of my writing. I'm already well, but I still can't make high sounds. Also because of the review by EikaRose, I was almost discouraged to continue. Then I realized that I shouldn't have reacted to it at all. On hindsight, I feel stupid for taking those words seriously for even an instant.**

 **Now, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter.**

 **As usual translations are found at the bottom**

* * *

 **(Junes Food Court. July 27th. Daytime)**

"You seriously fell asleep," Yosuke asked with a raised eyebrow from Viljam, who looked ashamed.

Currently the gang was gathered at the Junes Food court. Except Rise and Teddie, who were scanning the TV world for the boy on the Midnight Channel.

"Sorry, I guess I took a little too comfortable position," the Finnish boy said. It wouldn't be such a problem, if he hadn't missed the Midnight Channel because of it.

"The rest of us saw it, so you're excused," Yu told the Finnish boy.

"And I already filled him in on what we saw," Yukiko chimed in. The Amagi heiress was kind enough to tell Viljam what he missed on their way to Junes.

"I still find it hard to believe that that's our guy," Viljam said. "I mean, why would he enter the TV world if he used it to kill people," Viljam asked.

"Good question Viljam," Yu said to the Finnish boy. "However, at this point we can assume that our culprit knows that people stopped dying," the silverhaired boy explained.

"Missing Amagi or Kanji, I could understand, but Rise is a celebrity. No way he couldn't know about that," Yosuke agreed to the theory.

"But now that Teddie's on this side, there's no way for him to get out," Yukiko pointed out.

"Correct, Amagi-san, but the culprit probably doesn't know that," Yu reminded the girl, "All he knows is that the people he threw into the TV got out somehow.".

It was a reasonable theory, one which earned a look of realization from Viljam about one of their previous ideas. "So if I understand right. The culprit wanted to kill again, but the TV wouldn't work anymore. That would mean he was forced to kill Morooka on our side. Which left tracks that the police could follow," Viljam said questioningly.

"Exactly," Yosuke exclaimed. "Then, the cops got a search warrant on him. He probably thought that the TV would allow him to run away from the police," Yosuke added in.

"So...," Kanji butted in, "Why did he target King Moron in the first place. I mean, wasn't he targeting people that were seen on TV," Kanji questioned.

"Maybe he had a personal grudge on King Moron," Chie supplied helpfully.

Yu looked thoughtful at that remark, "It's possible he hated King Moron so much that he discarded the 'shown on TV' rule."

"That might also explain, why Morooka-sensei never appeared on the Midnight Channel," Yukiko added.

It did make sense. All the victims who were shown on TV appeared on the Midnight Channel, but Morooka who didn't appear on TV was never shown on the Midnight Channel.

Just as the others started pondering more, Rise came to them.

"Great timing. How did it go," Chie was the first ask.

Rise sighed dejectedly, "Not good. There's not enough information. We can only tell that someone's there.".

That didn't sound good. Still...

"Where's Teddie," Yosuke asked, noticing the bear missing.

"He's still looking," Rise replied.

"Good thing he's still trying," Yosuke commented. It might be a little cruel, but Yosuke almost expected Teddie to not do any of the tracking work now that Rise had replaced him.

"That wasn't nice," Viljam said in disapproving tone. Earning slight chuckles from everyone. "What," Viljam asked a little confused.

"It's the way you said it," Chie said with an amused look.

"Miten niin," Viljam said almost automatically, then he realized his mistake, "I mean: What do you mean?".

"Never mind," Chie said, snickering a little. "Anyway, we need more information on the guy right," Chie quickly changed the subject.

"Knowing who he is would probably help a lot," Yosuke said the obvious.

"That alone might not be enough, but it would be a start at least," Yu somewhat agreed.

"Well, then. Let's get digging," Chie said enthusiatically, to which everyone agreed.

 **(Samegawa Flood hours later)**

"This is getting nowhere," Yu muttered in annoyance.

The Investigation Team separated to find information on their mystery guy. Of course, Viljam was sent with Yukiko, since he was the only one who didn't know what they were looking for.

Shortly after, Yu noticed Kanji, who looked dismayed.

"Any luck, Kanji," Yu asked the punk.

"Nope," Kanji said. "Actually, people seem to not want to talk to me," Kanji added.

"Yeah, well I've checked with others and they haven't found anything either," Yu sighed.

"Why don't you just ask Dojima-san," Kanji asked, earning wide eyes from Yu. "I mean, he's a cop so shouldn't he know something," the punk pointed out.

Yu almost felt stupid for not thinking that, but then he remembered _why_ it didn't occur to him. "I doubt he's going to tell me anything, but I'll try anyway," Yu said with slight resignation. He really didn't want to face his uncle about this, but they needed information asap.

 **(Junes. Later)**

As Yu thought, Dojima had no intention of telling anything. This would've put him back to square one, if Dojima hadn't grumbled about Adachi disappearing somewhere.

Yu remembered seeing Adachi slacking off at Junes a couple times, so he was probably there again.

Sure enough. As soon as Yu entered Junes, he saw Adachi loitering around.

"Adachi-san," Yu called out, causing the young detective to jump a little.

"Whoa! Don't scare me like that. I thought you were Dojima-san," Adachi complained, and then realized his mistake. "W-Wait! I'm not slacking off," Adachi quickly defended himself.

"Uhhuh," Yu said with a look that said "really?".

"Look, please don't tell Dojima-san about this, please," Adachi begged

Yu looked like he was thinking deeply. "Alright, but on one condition," Yu said with a grin.

"Name it," Adachi said with hope.

"Tell me about the suspect," Yu said bluntly.

"Whuh?...Uhhh... You'll keep quiet if I tell, right," Adachi asked nervously.

"I promise," Yu said sincerely.

Adachi looked relieved enough. "Okay, I'm just talking to myself, but apparently the suspect had a part time job in the shopping district," Adachi said. "...And that's all I was told," Adachi said after few seconds of Yu waiting for more.

"...That's it," Yu asked in minor disbelief. He thought Adachi would know a little more than that.

"Sorry, but I'm not important enough to be told much," Adachi said in dismay.

Yu resisted a sigh, before turning to move away. "Thanks anyway," Yu said. The lead was small, but it was a something.

Although now that Yu thought of it, maybe Viljam was right to question how Adachi got his job. The guy doesn't seem to take his work very seriously, and he keeps babbling things that Yu was pretty sure were classified information. Honestly, the silverhaired boy expected to really have to extort Adachi to get even the tiniest of information.

 **(Junes Food Court. July 31st. Daytime)**

Yu was honestly surprised, how easily he found the place where the suspect used to work. Although the person who the suspicious boy worked for couldn't tell much. Thankfully, Yu was pointed to the boy's classmate who used to work there.

Sadly Yu couldn't find the guy for a few days, but today was a different story. He did find the boy and received a photo of the suspicious boy with the boy's name written on it. Mitsuo Kubo was the suspicious boy's name.

Now however, the gang had once again gathered around the Food Court and Yu handed Rise the photo.

"So that's our guy," Kanji said, looking at the photo in disgust. "Well he does looks creepy with those fish-like eyes," the punk added.

"This person came to our shop before," Rise said with wide eyes, earning shocked looks from everyone. "He kept rambling about biker gangs, and how they needed to be in packs and stuff... So I tried to ignore him," Rise said, before her eyes widened in fear, "Oh my god! I was being targeted!".

Kanji looked like he was fuming. "You gotta be shitting me! I never WAS in a biker gang," Kanji exclaimed in anger.

"Well, that news special did make it sound like you are," Yosuke shrugged earning a glare from Kanji.

Chie also looked at the picture, with a thoughtful look until a look of realization crossed her face. "Yukiko, it's that guy," Chie exclaimed earning confused looks from everyone except Viljam, who after few seconds of looking at the picture now looked scared.

"Who," Yukiko asked, genuinely confused.

"The guy that hit on you back in April," Chie clarified.

"...I don't remember that," Yukiko said almost emotionlessly.

This earned blanched looks from others.

"..Well," Rise started. " I guess I wouldn't want to remember being hit on by a guy like that either," the teen idol said unsurely.

"Makes sense," Yosuke shrugged. Though in Yukiko's case, it seems like she can't remember any guy she's rejected.

"That's not all," Chie then said, "I've also heard him mutter things like, 'Unfaithful women deserve to die'.".

"That...almost sounds like he wanted to kill Yamano," Yu said having realized that there seems to be a connection to everyone so far. "This actually makes it sound like, he has a connection to all the victims so far. And a grudge no less," the silverhaired boy said. Well...with the exception of Saki Konishi, but that could still be attributed to wanting to silence her.

"Hold up, what about Vilujam-senpai," Kanji butted in, still mispronouncing Viljam's name. "I mean, he doesn't have a connection to the guy, right," Kanji asked, turning to the Finnish boy in question.

Only for the said guy to look nervous for some reason.

"Actually...," Chie started with a smile, earning everyone's attention, "...Nousku-kun punched him in the face.".

"WHAT!?"

Kanji and Rise looked at Viljam with a shocked look. They knew Viljam can smack people upside the head, but full on punch? That was something they had hard time picturing.

"Now that you mention it," Yosuke said with a thoughtful look, "The guy did seem to have a bruise and he walked funnily.". Yosuke and Yu may have seen the guy run away, but they didn't see how he was driven away.

"Oh yeah! Nousku-kun also kicked him in the groin," Chie added, happily remembering that little detail.

All eyes were on Viljam who looked like he wanted to be swallowed by the floor. Which was very true.

"...I SNAPPED, ALRIGHT!" the Finnish boy caved in at the stares. "Please, don't hate me," Viljam then said in a small voice.

That earned sweatdrops from everyone, except Yukiko.

"We don't hate you," Yukiko said comfortingly, while lightly patting Viljam's back.

"Come to think of it...," Yu said in deep thought, "When Viljam was shown alongside Amagi-san, we could barely even tell it was a different person.".

"Maybe Amagi was the primary target," Yosuke suggested, "I mean, she did reject the guy.".

"But Nousku-kun caused physical harm," Chie pointed out, "I think it would make more sense if that guy hated him more.".

At those words, Viljam slumped in his chair.

"Or maybe it's because Viljam was shown on TV for only an instant," Yosuke then theorized.

That made Yu think. "It makes sense," the silverhaired boy nodded in agreement. If Viljam only appeared on the TV for an instant, then that could just mean this Mitsuo guy had an excuse to target Viljam.

"Sounds like we got our guy," Kanji said, still angry about being targeted for something he was not, "So what're we waiting for!? Let's catch this asshole!".

"Yeah," Chie hollered with Kanji.

"Rise, we're counting on you," Yu told the teen idol.

"I promise, I'll find him with this," Rise said, holding the photo.

 **(TV world. July 31st. Few minutes later)**

As Rise promised, she was able to pinpoint, Mitsuo's location. They weren't sure what kind of area they would face, since their target is possibly crazy. Something Viljam pointed out many times in the past.

"What's this...," Chie wondered at the sight of the area they had entered, "Some kind of game?".

Indeed, the area they were staring at looked like it was ripped out of an 8-bit game. Complete with a dungeon entrance and some blocky trees around the area.

"Well, he did say 'try and catch me'," Yosuke shrugged, "Guess he thinks of all this as a game.".

"Oh, THAT'S IT!" Chie shouted angrily, causing the male members to jump a little, "I'm sentencing him to a hundred kicks in the face!".

"Well...," Yu said, trying to come up with something to say. "Let the games begin," the silverhaired boy exclaimed in fake enthusiasm... Which wasn't shared by others, for varying reasons.

"You're doing it wrong," Viljam said, earning a disbelieving look from others.

"Well, what would you say," Yosuke decided to ask, even though he was probably going to regret it.

The Finnish boy cleared his throat. "Prepare your best skills, put on your best equipment and stack up your items. 'Cause it's GAME TIME!" Viljam finished his speech by lifting his sickle to the sky. Few seconds of silence occurred.

Then it was broken by Yukiko's laughter. "*ahhaha* Nousku-kun *ahhah* you're funny," Yukiko managed to say between laughs.

"Hey!"

"Dude, read the mood," Kanji said, totally unamused.

Indeed, no one looked amused at Viljam's little speech, though only Chie and Kanji looked annoyed. Yu and Yosuke just shook their heads, while Rise and Teddie had uncertain looks.

"...You guys're boring," Viljam said, completely downed.

"Well, all guys do love games," Yosuke said, ignoring Viljam's comment.

"And all girls love Teddie," Teddie exclaimed happily.

The rest of the team quickly entered the dungeon, ignoring Teddie's words.

 **(Few hours later)**

"All right guys! Pile on!" Was the exclamation of Chie, who saw the opportunity to go all out.

"Agreed! Get them everyone!" Was Yu's eager response.

"Showtime!" Rise exclaimed as Himiko sent a pink pulse that passed over the rest of the team, invigorating them.

If the team wasn't busy with their charge, they could've heard one of the shadows actually whimper just before it got smashed by Kanji's desk.

After that battle, everyone was panting in exhaustion, Viljam more so than others.

"Is it just me, or are these shadows insanely tough," the Finnish boy asked while taking a whiff of his inhalator before another asthma attack could occur.

"Hate to say it, but you're right," Yu said, taking a breather himself. "How many times, have we taken those healing leaves now," the silverhaired boy then asked no one in particular. Yu could swear that the fox was smirking the last time they had required it's services.

"Six times," Rise replied, still having Himiko out, "And Nousku-senpai and Yukiko-senpai can use Twin Arcana soon.".

Fun fact, that everyone learned. While using Himiko, Rise can see everyone's vitals. How much they can use their personas, any significant injury in a particular part of their bodies and most importantly, when Yukiko and Viljam can use Twin Arcana. This has been really useful, since the gang could now plan when to count on using it.

"But Yuki-chan looks tired," Teddie said in concern.

"I'll be fine," Yukiko said, though she sounded tired.

"Actually, I think we've been relying too much on Twin Arcana," Yu said suddenly, earning curious looks. "Think of the last three times, we were literally saved by it," Yu reminded everyone.

"Now that you mention it, we've had to run a few times," Kanji said as he remembered that many fights, where Twin Arcana was out of the question, they had to actually run.

"Hate to say it, but I don't think we can continue like this," Chie said, while giving an apologetic look to Yukiko and Viljam. Not only has she been praying too many times for Twin Arcana to be available in some fights, but it seems that repeated use saps the two priestess wielders of their stamina the more they use it.

"So..., if we're so weak, then we just gotta get stronger," Kanji said, while stretching his arms a little.

"Yeah, that way we won't have to put pressure on Yuki-chan," Teddie exclaimed happily, earning a glare from Viljam for being forgotten.

"I don't think there's a training method to achieve that fast enough," Yosuke sighed.

"Actually, there is," Rise said, earning everyone's attention. "Your personas gain more power as they defeat more enemies. If we keep fighting just a little weaker shadows, we can work our way up to these guys," the teen idol told everyone, earning blanched looks. Rise caught onto the stares,"...umm... Didn't I mention that before?".

"No." Was the universal answer.

"Sorry," Rise apologized, while blushing lightly.

"...Oh god, now this is starting to sound like a game," Yosuke sighed in exapseration.

"Huh?" Came from Chie.

"Rise can scan our 'stats', and our personas gain 'exp' from shadows," Yosuke said, earning wide eyes from everyone.

"We're in a freaking video game," Kanji exclaimed in disbelief.

"...Okay?" Was Yu's intelligent response to Yosuke's revelation.

"And I'm the hero!" Teddie exclaimed happily.

"No you're not," Chie deadpanned, causing the bear to slump.

Viljam looked very deep in thought, even frowning at some kind of mental dilemma about something. "Do we also have extra lives," Viljam asked out of curiosity.

"What," Rise asked, baffled at the stupid question. "No! You don't have extra lives! This isn't a game," the teen idol nearly yelled. First Yosuke calls this a game, and now Viljam thinks they have multiple lives because of it.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure, so I wouldn't do anything stupid," Viljam said, a little embarrassed, since he knew that the question was a little stupid.

"Anyway," Yu interrupted. "Let's focus on training for today. If we feel better by tomorrow, we will move forward," the silver haired boy suggested.

"Sounds like a plan partner," Yosuke said.

"Yeah, let's train hard," Chie exclaimed, while pumping her fist.

"Let's do our best," Yukiko joined her best friend.

With that, the gang retreated to fight more manageable shadows.

 **(Dojima Household. July 31st. Evening)**

Yu felt exhausted. Not the, "I can't walk tomorrow" kind of exhausted. More like "I just wanna go to sleep and forget today ever happened" kind of exhausted.

"We really should've trained more," the silver haired boy muttered to himself. Yu's words weren't about today's training. That was a success. The problem was that ever since they rescued Rise, they haven't trained at all because too many things happened in between.

Now they paid the price. Thankfully not in lives. Just severe exhaustion from most of them. Viljam actually had an asthma attack during one fight, so Twin Arcana was out. Thankfully they didn't need it. Not to mention, by the time they finally called it a day, they finally took down powerful shadows with relative ease.

Hopefully, they can catch the culprit soon, if not tomorrow. Then again, once they catch the culprit, they no longer have a reason... to...

Yu shook his head, just because they wrap up the case doesn't mean they have to stop seeing each other. Then again..., " _I shouldn't think this_ ," Yu thought with a headshake and tried to sleep.

 **(Amagi Inn. July 31st. Roughly the same time)**

Viljam was worried. During their training, Rise noted that Louhi had very high offensive power in magic, and decent in physical. But Viljam's persona can take increasingly less hits, making him a glass cannon. In one fight, Louhi was nearly taken out by a bufudyne in one shot, despite being resistant to ice. How many times did the others have to get in the way to take the hit. Viljam lost count, and frankly would've preferred if they let him be taken out.

"Pakkoko minun on olla näin hauras," Viljam sighed. At this rate it would be better if he stayed out. The only reason he's even kept around is because of Twin Arcana. Or that's what Viljam believes.

Honestly, Viljam was very afraid of tomorrow. These past few months have been the best time of his life, all things considered. Unfortunately, in Viljam's experience something terrible will happen to 'balance' things.

Now the Finnish boy wasn't sure if he could sleep, but he tried anyway.

 **(TV World. August 1st. Daytime)**

"I can't believe we leveled up enough to beat these things in one day," Kanji muttered after bashing another shadow.

"As much as I'd like to question that phrase, I'd rather not lose what little sanity I have left," Viljam replied.

"Oh, you were sane," Yosuke asked jokingly.

"Hanamura," Chie said in a warning tone.

"It's fine, Chie-san," Viljam said dismissively, "Crazy means, not boring.".

"Anyway, do you think you can keep going," Yu interrupted the conversation.

Viljam knew the question was directed at him. "Yeah. I just hope I won't hold you guys back," the Finnish boy replied, sounding like he was ashamed of himself.

Yosuke scoffed at the Finnish boy's words. "Dude, you're one half of our secret weapon, and you're doing your share of beating shadows. You're fine," the Junes boy said.

"He's right, we can't do this without you," Yukiko said with a smile.

"...That's stretching it," Viljam said with a shake of his head.

" Maybe, but we'd have less colorful explosions," Chie said with a chuckle.

"True that," Yu agreed, "Besides, like Yosuke said, you're doing your share of shadow killing.".

"Thanks, and sorry," Viljam said, earning questioning looks.

"For what," Kanji voiced everyone's question.

"...Nevermind," Viljam said, realizing his reason for the apology was stupid.

Not questioning further, the gang moved on.

 **(Later)**

"Huh?" Came the confused exclamation from Rise, "I thought this was the right way.".

"What do you mean," Kanji asked.

"It's just, there's a dead end beyond this hallway," the teen idol said, clearly confused.

The gang walked to the crossroads, and just as Rise said, there was a dead end on all three pathways not counting the one they came from.

"You're right," Chie said, "How're we supposed to move forward?"

"In a game we would see some kind of puzzle that would allow us to move forward," Viljam commented.

"Well I don't see anything of the sort," Yosuke pointed out, after looking around. There was nothing on either pathway, except a pixelated fountain at the end of each path.

Yukiko noticed Teddie moving to lefternmost pathway. "Teddie, where are you going," the black haired girl called out to the bear.

"I'm thirsty," Teddie said, approaching one of the fountains.

"Ted, those fountains aren't real," Yosuke pointed out in exasperation.

"Actually, I'd like to have something to drink as well," Viljam said, while rubbing his throat a little.

Whatever Yosuke was about to say next was interrupted by a bright flash from Teddie's direction.

"The heck!? What was-Where's Teddie," Kanji exclaimed.

True to his statement Teddie was gone.

"Rise-chan," Yu called out.

"On it!" Was the immediate response. "He's gone," Rise said after a moment, causing everyone to worry for their fuzzy friend. "No wait! He's in a different room not far from us," the teen idol said in relief.

"Did that fountain teleport him," Chie asked aloud.

"Looks that way," Yu said non-chalantly.

"Guys! I sense large number of shadows closing in on him," Rise exclaimed. Then she looked horrified, "No, Teddie! STOP!".

"What!? What's happening to Ted," Yu asked, getting worried alongside everyone else.

"He's charging at the shadows head on! We have to help him!".

"That moron," Yosuke voiced what most people were thinking.

"We have to save him," Yukiko exclaimed in worry.

"And we will," Yu agreed. "Double time people," the silver haired boy said with a drill sergeant tone. With that the gang moved in to save their stupid adorable friend.

As soon as the gang was teleported to the room where Teddie was, Kanji got hit by the said bear who got launched by the shadows.

"Get off you stupid bear," Kanji exclaimed from the floor, not appreciating the living weight on him.

Teddie did get off, but not because Kanji told him to. "Grrr! How dare you fling me into Kanji," the bear exclaimed in anger, before charging again.

"Teddie! Wait," Yu called to the bear, but the oversized mascot didn't hear him. "Urgh. Dammit Teddie!". Looks like even the calm and collected leader of the investigation team finally got frustrated at Teddie's antics.

 **(After the fight)**

"Teddie. Never. Do. That. Again," Yu told Teddie, emphasizing each word.

The bear in question looked ashamed. "Sorry. I just wanted to show Sensei that I can do this," Teddie said sadly.

"You got nothing to prove," Yu said with a sigh, "You're fine as you are.".

That seemed to cheer the bear up. "Thank you Sensei," Teddie exclaimed, happy once again.

"Still..., now we got an interesting maze," Viljam said changing the subject. "Teleporting fountains," the Finnish boy added.

"Uhhuh," was the universal response to that.

 **(Later on)**

After getting out of the floor with teleporting fountains, the gang had moved in a strange floor with many crossroads. Strange thing was, whenever they stepped on those crossroads they heard a click.

"This clicking is starting to creep me out," Viljam said in worry. It wasn't the clicking itself, but the fact that he didn't know what was going on was scary.

"Dude, you're paranoid," Kanji deadpanned.

"There's a fine line between caution and paranoia," Yukiko pointed out.

"Yuki-chan is smart," Teddie complimented.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get any ideas," Chie said.

It didn't take long for the gang to get to a door at the far end of the floor.

"Guys, there's a powerful shadow reading behind this door," Rise warned.

"Thanks. If anyone has any injuries, say it now," Yu called out to everyone.

"I'm fine," Yosuke said.

"Ready to kick some butt," Chie followed enthusiastically.

"Good to go," Yukiko said, brandishing her fan.

"What Yukiko said," Viljam said, preparing his kusarigama.

Kanji only hit his fist into his palm with a smirk.

"I was born ready," Teddie said with his fists on his hips.

Yu smiled at everyone's responses. "Okay guys, let's move in. The usual formation," Yu instructed, earning various confirmations.

As soon as the gang entered, they saw that their opponent was a large black hand shadow. The gang immediately moved into their formation. Yu, Chie, Yosuke and Kanji at the front. With Rise being at the back, with Yukiko, Teddie and Viljam as the rear-guard.

"It's only one enemy, but be careful," Rise informed everyone.

Chie started the fight, by having Tomoe attack the hand shadow. It staggered a little, but didn't seem too phazed by the attack.

"Oni!" Yu called his new Persona. A red ogre with a metal club joined Tomoe in attacking the hand, but the thing dodged and struck Kanji's persona, which the punk had summoned.

"Stay still, dammit," Kanji shouted, as he charged the shadow and hit it with his desk. Kanji then got thrown back, when the hand suddenly flicked his forehead.

Viljam and Yukiko couldn't help laughing at the sight, even as they had Louhi and Konohana fire their respective elemental spells.

Then the hand snapped it's fingers to summon four white hands.

"The black one isn't weak to anything, but the white ones are weak to ice," Rise informed everyone.

"Teddie, let's cool them off," Viljam said with a sinister smile, to which Teddie nodded eagerly.

"MABUFULA!" the two called out in unison. As soon as that had been said, the hands were hit by pillars of ice. Only one white hand miraculously avoided the onslaught and used diarama on the black hand.

"Did it just heal the black one," Chie exclaimed in anger.

"Yes it did," Yosuke said, before moving in to try and slice the white hand. Only to be slapped away, literally... across the face too. "Oh come on!".

As this happened, Chie and Kanji tried to double team the black hand, before it summoned more allies. They were just a second too slow and...

This time, there were six white hands.

"Black Frost!" Yu called out black snowman with a mischievous look to cast Mabufula. Unfortunately, three of them managed to avoid the spell and one of them cast another diarama on the black one.

"Guys, we gotta defeat the black one fast! Anyone who can cast bufu spells focus on the white ones. The rest of us, will focus on the black one," Yu instructed.

Viljam quickly called out his persona. "Aye aye siIIRR," Viljam's sentence was cut off at a very uncomfortable feeling. The finnish boy looked back, but saw nothing. Then he glanced towards the summoned Louhi. "Et ole tosissasi," Viljam cried out as he noticed his female persona holding her behind protectively. The reason being a white hand that seemed to have a mischievous glint in the eyeholes of it's mask. "Terve menoa," Viljam said with a dangerous tone, and as if responding Louhi fired bufula after bufula at the offending appendage until it dissolved.

"Uh-oh," Rise said in slight terror, as she actually saw the poor white hand slapping Louhi's behind. Actually, if the idol wasn't busy trying to keep track of all the enemies she would've actually been scared of what these shadows might do to them in the event the gang was defeated.

Yukiko and Teddie also noticed the incident, but they decided to focus on thinning out the remaining hands. Although Yukiko seemed to become extremely zealous in killing everything in her path.

"GYAAK!" Chie cried out, because the black hand managed to dodge her kick and respond by flicking her behind. "THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! TOMOE!" Was Chie's battle cry before she summoned Tomoe to swipe at the shadow, which actually tripped it. Then she proceeded to stomp on the shadow's mask, which was located on the spot where a wrist was supposed to be, while Tomoe started stabbing it.

Soon enough, Kanji and Yosuke joined Chie for some sweet revenge on their humiliating beat down.

Between the three's beating and the others wiping out the white hands, the black hand soon dissolved.

Chie was gasping for air, still angry at the treatment she had received. "Serves *pant* you *gasp* right," Chie managed to say to the final fumes of the shadow before they faded.

"Damn straight," Kanji added in, while rubbing his forehead.

Yosuke didn't say anything, he just rubbed his abused cheek.

"So..., Nousku-kun," Yukiko said, earning Viljam's attention.

"Yes?"

"Um..., did you actually feel... what that hand did to Louhi," the black haired girl asked unsurely.

"...Yes," Viljam said in shame, "And I feel violated.".

"You know nothing of violated," Yosuke muttered, remembering what happened with Kanji's shadow.

Yu decided to occupy himself with picking up what the shadow had dropped upon it's death. Better than having flashbacks of that incident.

"What's that sensei," Teddie asked, eyeing the black spherical object in Yu's hand.

Now that Teddie said it, everyone else looked at it too.

"Looks like a big marble," Kanji commented.

"What if it's dangerous," Chie said, eyeing the "marble" in suspicion.

"Rise, do you get anything from it," Yu asked.

"Give me a sec," Rise said, before she started scanning it with Himiko. "No. I don't get any readings from it," the teen idol said.

"So it's safe, but should we really pick it up," Yosuke asked skeptically.

"We should take it," Viljam said, earning surprised looks from everyone but Yu. "I mean, that thing looks important," the Finnish boy explained.

"How does that look important to you," Yosuke asked, wondering what made Viljam reach that conclusion. The Finnish boy just looked lost on what to say.

"Viljam might be right," Yu said, before pocketing the marble. "Even if it isn't important it might make a nice decoration," the silverhaired boy added, half-jokingly.

"You're so smart, senpai," Rise complimented Yu.

"Makes sense I guess," Yosuke shrugged, not seeing any room to argue, "But which way now? This room is a dead end.".

"There are still some paths we can take," Rise said after doing a quick scan of the floor.

"Then let's go find them," Teddie said cheerfully.

 **(Later)**

"Is this it," Kanji asked.

The gang had only just come up the stairs and immediately there was a door in front of them.

"I sense the culprit through there, so yes," Rise answered for Kanji.

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's get him," Yosuke said already marching to the door.

"No!"

Everyone turned to look at Yu in surprise.

"Senpai, the asshole's right in front of us, why the hell not," Kanji shouted in a mixture of anger and disbelief.

"Rise-chan, what's everyone's status," Yu asked Rise, who immediately scanned everyone.

"Umm..., according to my scan everyone is showing varying levels of exhaustion," Rise informed everyone.

"Exhaustion," Chie parroted, before scoffing. "Come on! I feel fine," Chie said confidently.

"I said varying," Rise clarified. "The most exhausted are Yukiko-senpai and Nousku-senpai. Yu-senpai, being third," Rise informed everyone.

This earned worried glances to the three in question.

"I'm fine," Yukiko said, but she didn't sound convincing.

"Sorry, but I don't think I'm good enough to go," Viljam admitted in shame. Truthfully, he felt... well.. spent is the closest word that came to his mind.

"I'm the third," Yu asked in surprise. "I didn't think I'm that tired," Yu said, but now that it was said he didn't feel too good. "Anyway, as Kanji said the killer is right in front of us. But we don't know what he's capable of," Yu explained to everyone.

"Come on sensei. We can beat him," Teddie said enthusiastically.

"Or are you saying, we should just quit," Yosuke asked with slight anger. "After everything he-"

"Yosuke!" Yu interrupted the Junes boy,"We're not quitting. We fall back today, rest and come back tomorrow to catch him," Yu said, putting emphasis on the last part.

"Fine, sorry," Yosuke conceded, feeling a little bad.

"Least we get to pummel him at full power tomorrow," Kanji added in, earning an enthusiastic nod from Chie.

Everyone agreed that they would come back tomorrow well rested and ready to kick ass.

 **(Dojima household. August 1st. Evening)**

"Did I make the right choice," Yu asked himself. Sure he knew that they had to be at full strength, but he felt like he didn't want to fight at all.

" _Why,_ " the silverhaired boy questioned in his head. Unfortunately, he already knew the answer. He didn't want this case to end.

Sure, there was a killer on the loose, but without this case their rag tag team of investigators wouldn't have come together.

Before coming to Inaba, Yu had never really connected with people because he had to move around due to his parents.

Now, ever since he came to Inaba, he was dragged into the murder case, forced to become the leader of this rag tag team and fight dangerous shadows... and it has been the best thing that has happened to him. Dangerous moments aside, his new friends have been fun to be with.

Now. It feels like all that is coming to an end. So why not just drop the whole thing?

Yu chuckled humorlessly. If they left the guy there, he would die on the next foggy day, which means he would never really answer for his crimes. Then there was Yosuke. Saki Konishi was someone Yosuke cared about, granted they later found out she didn't like the Junes boy but still, Yu's first male friend here was motivated by her to solve this. Giving up now would be insulting Yosuke and everyone the culprit has targeted so far.

"I hope this doesn't end everything," Yu thought aloud before going to bed.

 **(Hanamura household. August 1st. Evening)**

"Hey Yosuke, who's this," Teddie asked from his room mate.

"Who's wh-Put that away!" Yosuke shouted after seeing what Teddie was holding. A photograph of Saki that the Junes boy forgot he still had.

"Not before you tell me who the person is," Teddie said teasingly.

"Put that away! NOW!" Yosuke practically roared, scaring the poor bear/boy.

"Did I do something bad," Teddie asked while hanging his head in shame.

Seeing the bear's look caused Yosuke to calm down just a little. "Not really. I just... don't like people touching that," Yosuke said while taking the photo. "Where did you find this anyway," Yosuke then asked.

"From your drawer," Teddie answered a little scared of how Yosuke would react. As he should.

To Yosuke's credit, he only felt his eye twitch at the intrusion. "What did I say about touching my stuff," Yosuke said in a disciplining tone.

Teddie seemed to shrink at the tone,"Uhhh... Not to do that?"

"Correct," Yosuke said with a calm tone. "Don't do it again," Yosuke said with finality and put the photo back to his drawer.

"So uhh... Who's that person on the photo," Teddie asked again.

"Teddie that's none of your...," Yosuke couldn't finish that sentence at the sight of the sad boy. As much as Yosuke sometimes hated Teddie's antics, he had to remember that the bear doesn't mean any harm. "Fine, it's Saki-senpai," Yosuke admitted.

"The girl you loved," Teddie half asked half stated.

"Yeah," Yosuke sighed. It still stung him a little to remember how he found out that Saki thought he was a "pain in the ass". Then again, finding out that girl you liked died and that she hated you on the same day would do that to a person.

"I'm sorry," Teddie said, cutting Yosuke's train of thought.

"What're you sorry for," Yosuke asked the bear.

"I could've let them out, but I was too scared of the shadows," Teddie said, his eyes becoming moist.

Yosuke wasn't even phased about Teddie's reveal, because he had already thought of it. Sure he felt angry at the time for the bear not letting the first two victims out before the fog. Then again, Teddie didn't understand what was going on at the time, so it wasn't fair to blame him. "Don't be, you didn't know what was going on," Yosuke said before ruffling the boy's blonde hair.

"Yosukee~!" Teddie cried out before glomping the Junes boy.

"Hey! Stop that! Get off!" Were the various protests of Yosuke who was trying to pry the emotional bear off of him.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 1st. Evening)**

"Alright Chie, I'll be careful and I'll tell the same to Nousku-kun," Yukiko said to her phone as she moved towards Viljam's room.

" _Thanks, and good night,_ " Chie said from her end of the line.

"Good night," Yukiko said and with that the two hung up.

It didn't take the Amagi heiress long before reaching Viljam's room. Yukiko knocked on the door.

"Come in," Was the slightly muffled response.

Yukiko entered with her usual, "Sorry for disturbing.".

Viljam was already in his futon, but he wasn't sleeping yet. Evidenced by the fact that he had turned enough to see Yukiko. "Hey Yukiko, what's up," Viljam asked the girl.

"Chie called me a few minutes ago, wondering if you wanted to stay out of the fight tomorrow," Yukiko informed Viljam, who almost looked offended.

"I've already come this far. I can't back out now," Viljam said with conviction.

Yukiko smiled at her guest brother, "I told Chie as much, and in case I was right, she told me to tell you to be careful," Yukiko relayed Chie's message.

"She could've told me that herself," Viljam said simply.

This caused Yukiko to tilt her head in confusion, "Why would it matter?".

Viljam opened his mouth to speak, before looking thoughtful. "...Good question.".

This caused Yukiko to laugh a little, which earned her a frown from Viljam. "Sorry, but that sounded funny," Yukiko said still amused, before donning a serious expression. "I'm sorry about this," Yukiko told Viljam, who looked confused.

"For what?"

"For dragging you into this," Yukiko added, which only made Viljam more confused. "If you hadn't been with me that day, maybe you wouldn't have been targeted," Yukiko said looking at the Finnish boy sadly.

Viljam let out a sigh. "Yukiko, this isn't your fault," Viljam said, "None of this is.".

"But you hit him because of me," Yukiko said.

Viljam felt a wave of shame and guilt wash over him for snapping at the guy. Sure he was being a creep, but Viljam was sometimes too nice for his own good. "I... I punched him because of what he said to me. Don't take the blame for something I did," Viljam said with difficulty.

"Because of that interview, he had an excuse to target you," Yukiko reminded again.

Now Viljam almost looked amused. "And I stumbled into it because of my own stupidity," the Finnish boy retorted.

"But you were kidnapped with me," Yukiko pulled her ace card.

"That was luck on his part," Viljam trumped Yukiko with his own. Yukiko tried to come up with something to prove Viljam that she was at fault.

However, Viljam beat her to it. "If you're about to say that I didn't have to become part of this, then save your breath," the Finnish boy said surprising Yukiko, "It was my choice, besides if I backed out now, I would not only let you all down, but that also means I would stay here and worry. I don't want that!".

Yukiko was rendered speechless at Viljam's resolve. "But..., aren't you scared," Yukiko asked uncertainly.

This earned the girl a blank look from Viljam. "Scared? Of course I am," Viljam admitted. "I'm scared that some of us might not make it out alive tomorrow," Viljam started to list, wrapping the blanket around himself tighter as he did so, "I'm scared that if I stay out, none of you will return.". That phrase sounded more frantic. "And I'm scared that... that... that...". Now Viljam's voice began to crack a little.

At this moment, Yukiko closed the distance they had and sat down to hug increasingly distressed Viljam through the blanket. "I'm sorry," Yukiko apologized, "I shouldn't have asked.". Yukiko felt extremely guilty for making the Finnish boy feel miserable.

Viljam responded by hugging Yukiko back, wrapping his blanket around her in the process. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let my thoughts go there," Viljam said, feeling better. "We should get to sleep. We have a creep to catch," Viljam said, feeling more positive as the two released the hug.

"Yeah," Yukiko said, feeling like a weight had fallen off of her. "Good night, Nousku-kun," Yukiko said.

"Good night, Yukiko," Viljam said and turned to his side.

Yukiko didn't know this, but thanks to her, Viljam was able to sleep now.

* * *

 **AN: Just a little foreshadowing for the next chapter. I got something special planned for that. Hopefully I can get to write that chapter faster than this one.**

 **Though I've also considered doing partial rewritings of some of my previous chapters. Because after checking them out after some time I realize I could've done better. What do you guys think?**

 **Updated: Noticed I forgot some of the translations. Sorry about that.**

 **Translations:**

Pakkoko minun on olla näin hauras= Do I have to be this fragile?

Et ole tosissasi= You're not serious!

Terve menoa= Good riddance


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

 **AN: Honestly... I think I could've split this one into two smaller chapters, but I just couldn't find the moment to do that. I like to think that I have a habit to end chapters in a way that says "and that's that, moving on". I've yet to make a cliffhanger... at least I think I haven't.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Oh, and as usual translations are at the bottom.**

* * *

 **(TV World. August 2nd. Daytime)**

As the gang had planned, they returned to the TV world well rested and ready catch their culprit.

Though they had to make sure of one thing before they moved in.

"Twin Arcana is nearly ready, just one little push," Rise informed Yu.

Yu nodded in acknowledgment. "That'll be our trump card," the silver haired leader said, before turning to Viljam and Yukiko. "Amagi-san, Viljam, even after you feel you can use Twin Arcana, don't. I'll say when you can use it," Yu told the two.

"Okay," Yukiko said easily.

"You're the leader," Viljam shrugged.

Yu turned to address the rest of the gang. "Is everyone else ready," Yu asked them.

"You know it," Yosuke said while twirling his daggers.

"Ready to roll," Chie added in.

"Heck yeah," Kanji hollered.

"Let's go sensei," Teddie cheered.

"I'll back you up all the way," Rise said supportively.

"Well. Let's go," Yu said before he tried to open the door. Key word, tried. "What the...!? It won't open," Yu exclaimed after trying to push harder.

"The heck," Yosuke exclaimed, before trying himself. Sure enough, it wouldn't budge. "How the heck are we supposed to go in, if it doesn't even open," Yosuke said angrily.

"You telling me, that after all this, we can't even get in," Kanji said, before punching the door in anger.

"HYAAAH!" Was the warning that allowed Yu and Yosuke to avoid Chie's kick, which hit the door. "Oh come on," Chie complained when her kick didn't do anything.

"Don't scare us like that," Yosuke complained, "I thought you were trying to kill us," the Junes boy nearly snapped.

"Why the heck would I do that," Chie retorted.

"Well, you're so mentally unstable that-" "BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET!" Was the shout that interrupted the fight before it could even start.

Yu took a calming breath before continuing in his normal tone, "Look, how are we going to figure out how to open this door if we can't stay out of each others' throats?".

"He started it," Chie talked back, while pointing accusing finger at Yosuke.

"I don't care who started it. Now it stops," Yu said with a sterner tone.

"Fine," Chie sighed in defeat.

"Sorry," Yosuke apologized. "I just can't believe that we're being blocked by a stupid door.".

"Guys," Rise called out, "Something is blocking the door, but I can't tell what it is.".

"Nothing at all," Yu asked.

"No," Rise sighed, "But Nousku-senpai and Teddie are looking for a hidden switch.".

As soon as that was mentioned, the four turned to see Teddie scouring one wall, while Viljam was scouring the other.

"Really dude," Yosuke deadpanned at the two.

"Come on Yosuke there must be a hidden switch that opens that pesky door," Teddie said while patting random areas on the wall.

"Either that or there's some kind of key we missed," Viljam said. "But that thing doesn't have a keyhole of any kind," the Finnish boy added as an after thought.

At the mention of a key, Yu's eyes widened in realization. Then he fished out the black orb from his pocket. The leader of the investigation team brought the orb closer to the door. Suddenly, the orb shattered, causing everyone except Rise to turn to Yu's direction

"What was that," Chie was the first to ask.

"That orb we picked up yesterday shattered," Yu answered, wondering why it did that.

Viljam's eyes widened behind his glasses at remembering the thing, "Oh! I forgot that.". At those words, everyone else sweatdropped. Viljam was the one who said it looked important and he went and forgot about it.

"Guys, the force that kept the door locked is gone," Rise informed causing double exclamation marks to appear on everyone.

"Seriously," Chie said in bafflement, "That black thingy shattered and the door unlocks.".

Yosuke sighed at Chie's skepticism, "First, out of all the things that happened in this world, _that_ is what you're questioning? Second, it's video games, don't question it.".

"Agreed," Viljam added in, before Chie could retort. "Besides, in one video game you fight with a giant key. As far as video games go, this is one of the least weird ways to open a door," the Finnish boy added.

Chie wasn't sure if she should roll with it or question the oddly specific example Viljam gave. "Okay?" Chie decided to just roll with it to spare her sanity.

"Let's just get in now," Yu said, wanting to get things going before something else happens.

With that the door was open and everyone charged in. The area behind the door was the arena they saw on the Midnight Channel.

"There he is!" Chie exclaimed at the sight of their culprit, who had his back turned to them.

"Hey! You Mitsuo!? You better be ready to pay you bastard," Kanji exclaimed in anger.

"Oh no," Yosuke said after noticing what Mitsuo was looking at, a shadow version of himself.

"Everyone gets on my nerves!" was the first thing they heard Mitsuo yelling at his shadow, "That's why I did it! What do you think of that!?".

The shadow just stared blankly, not making any sign of acknowledgment.

"SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT!" Mitsuo roared at the shadow, which only kept staring blankly at Mitsuo. "Nobody even though of me after the first two people, that's why I went for the third one," Mitsuo said, earning exclamation marks from others.

"Does the 'third one' mean me or Yukiko," Viljam wondered aloud.

"I KILLED THEM!" Mitsuo shouted again before anyone could comment on Viljam's question.

The shadow just stared blankly still.

"Why the hell are you so quiet," Mitsuo then asked, getting a little unnerved.

 **"Because... I feel nothing,"** the shadow finally spoke with an emotionless tone.

"What the hell does that mean!? Make sense dammit!?" Mitsuo shouted, getting increasingly unnerved.

 **"I have nothing... I am nothing...,"** the shadow said, **"And you... are me."**.

"Wh-What the hell is that supposed to mean!? I'm not nothing!?" Mitsuo roared at his shadow.

Yukiko, along with everyone else, knew where this was going. "No! If this keeps up, then-". "Who the hell're you guys!?" Mitsuo, who had turned around, yelled at the gang.

"How the hell'd you get in here," the beady-eyed boy demanded them.

"Through the door, obviously," Yu responded.

That comment would've earned Yu laughs if the situation wasn't so serious. Mitsuo, being the least amused, "Dammit! What the hell're you doing here!?".

"SHUT UP!" Kanji roared, "We came after you!".

That comment surprised Mitsuo.

"Are you the killer," Chie then asked, staying on guard in case the guy tried anything.

At Chie's question, Mitsuo had a look of glee on his face, before he started to cackle like a lunatic.

This behavior put everyone on edge.

"Of course I am! I'm the one behind everything!" Mitsuo said with a look of disturbing glee on his face. Then the demented boy turned to his shadow, "I don't care what this impostor says! You hear that!? You have nothing to do with me! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!".

"Voi mätä," Viljam voiced what everyone thought of that phrase.

"You said it," Yosuke agreed, guessing what that phrase meant.

Right after those words, Mitsuo turned back to the gang, "That goes for the rest of you too! Get ouf here, or I'll kill you all! I can do it, you know! I can do ANYTHING!".

The way Mitsuo kept saying that was very disturbing, except they noticed a change in the shadow's behavior.

 **"So you don't accept me,"** the shadows said angrily, expressing emotion for the first time. Then it began to transform.

"Ugh... What the...," Mitsuo questioned as he suddenly felt weak.

When the shadow emerged in it's new form, Mitsuo lost conciousness. The shadow now looked like a big floating and very ugly baby with red sclera and yellow irises without pupils. It had a halo made of green letters and kanjis.

"Dammit, here we go again," Yosuke said, readying his weapons. As did everyone else.

"Get ready everyone," Yu said. "If we beat this, then this will all be over," the silverhaired boy said.

 **"Primary threats identified,"** Shadow Mitsuo suddenly said, as the halo on it's head began to spin rapidly.

"What's it doing," Kanji was the first to question.

Rise, quickly summoned Himiko to scan whatever that shadow was doing. "Guys, its-".

Rise didn't get to finish that sentence before a magic circle appeared beneath Yu. Then, before anyone could even blink, the circle flashed brightly, and Yu was replaced by a big black cube, which floated to Shadow Mitsuo.

"Narukami-kun! Senpai! Yu! Sensei!" We're the various shouts from the rest of the gang.

Except... "MINÄKIN!?" that one came from Viljam. The gang turned to the Finnish boy, just in time to see another bright flash, before Viljam was replaced by a white cube, which soon floated to Shadow Mitsuo.

"You gotta be f***ng shitting me," Kanji exclaimed in anger, "Why the f*** did it do that!?".

"Rise-chan, what happened," Yukiko cried out.

Unfortunately, before Rise could answer multiple blocks of varying colors appeared around Shadow Mitsuo, before they formed a shell around it in the shape of...

"Is that supposed to be a game character!?" Yosuke shouted in anger, "How insulting can it get!?".

"It's all jaggy and blocky," Teddie exclaimed with wide eyes. True to the statements, the shape it took was an 8-bit game character.

 **"I am... a shadow...,"** Shadow Mitsuo said in a robotic voice, **"Come... I'll end your emptiness."**.

"Rise-chan, what happened, to Narukami-kun and Nousku-kun," Chie asked, fearing the worst.

"Just give me a moment," Rise said, almost panicking, as she scanned frantically. "I found them!" Rise shouted with relief. "Whatever that shadow did to them didn't harm them," Rise said, causing everyone to sigh in relief. "But they're now inside that shell, you have to destroy it in order to get them out," Rise informed everyone.

Yosuke quickly stepped forward. "Guys, until we get our leader back, I'll be in charge. Any complaints," the Junes boy said.

Chie was about to retort, until..., "Look out!".

Everyone quickly got out of the way of the game character's blocky sword.

"Kanji, Satonaka hit it," Yosuke shouted, before summoning Jiraiya.

Kanji and Chie quickly summoned their respective personas to attack. Take Mikazuchi struck one of it's legs with his sword, while Tomoe used the larger persona as a stepping stone so she could slice the shadow's face. Tomoe faded away just before Jiraiyas shurikens hit the same spot the female persona hit before returning to the personas palms.

Unfortunately it seemed like the attacks didn't leave any visible marks.

"It's only a little, but the shell _is_ taking damage," Rise informed, which lifted everyone's spirits.

That celebration didn't last, because the shadow started throwing 8-bit bombs at the three who just attacked.

"Teddie, Amagi you're up," Yosuke shouted as he ran away from the bombs, along with Kanji and Chie running to different directions.

"Konohana Sakuya!" Yukiko called out her persona to unleash her fiery wrath.

"Bear-sona," Teddie called out as well to fire a Bufula at the enemy.

Of course they aimed it at the face.

"We need to hit harder," Kanji shouted as he went on the offensive with Take again. This time, the shadow's sword hit the persona, smacking it away along with Kanji.

Teddie quickly had an idea, "Matarukaja!".

Soon enough, everyone felt the increase of strength.

"Thanks, Ted!" Yosuke said, before Jiraiya fired a garula, as Yosuke went to strike it's foot.

However, Shadow Mitsuo decided to ignore Yosuke and move in to slash Yukiko.

"Oh no, you don't! Kintoki Douji," Teddie exclaimed, and the said persona rammed into the flat of the blade, redirecting it somewhat.

Yukiko had still moved away.

"Guys, aim for the head! That's where Yu-senpai and Nousku-senpai are," Rise then informed. She managed to pick up the scanning where she left off, even if

"Thanks Rise-chan," Chie called out, before having Tomoe do just that with her naginata, the persona added a kick for good measure.

"Zionga!" Came from Kanji and his persona fired the said spell.

The shadow turned to strike the offending punk, but was interrupted by a bufula and agilao to the face, courtesy of Yukiko and Teddie.

"Just a little more," Rise said. Through the scanner that Himiko was holding over her eyes, she could see that the top only needed few more strikes to shatter.

"Hey, Satonaka! Follow me," Yosuke called out, before Jiraiya tossed his wielder right on the shadow's shoulder. the Junes boy staggered a bit for balance, but managed to stay on.

Chie had followed Yosuke's example, landing on the opposite shoulder, but she had a lot easier time to balance. "What kind of crazy idea needs us standing on this thing," Chie asked the question she felt like she should've asked before going with it.

"Just hit this thing and call your persona, we're gonna have them do a double drop kick," Yosuke said with a grin.

Chie had a savage grin at that idea. "Alright!"

With that, the two did just that. Interestingly enough, Jiraiya and Tomoe seemed to nod at each other in silent agreement, before drop kicking the shadow on it's blocky head. The force of the attack caused all blocks that made the head shake, as if they were about to come off.

"I'll finish it," Teddie exclaimed as he sent Kintoki for attack. The red boiler with a cape flew at the shadows head and poked it's face with it's missile, causing the thing to explode. Which was the final straw.

The blocks that made the shell's head fell off from the force of the explosion, before they disintegrated.

Thankfully, Chie and Yosuke managed to stay on. Yosuke actually would've shouted at Teddie, if he didn't see something interesting on the back of the now headless game characters neck. A black block that seemed a little out of place.

"Satonaka, I'll get Yu out, you get Viljam out," Yosuke said, just before moving to do just that.

"But which one is the right one," Chie wondered aloud. The blocks of the game character's torso were white, which made it hard to identify the one containing Viljam. "AHHA!" Chie exclaimed as she noticed a lone block above the rest. Hopefully that's the one.

As Chie and Yosuke moved to destroy the imprisoning blocks, Kanji, Teddie and Yukiko were dealing with the rest of the shell. It still fought back even without a head.

They were so busy with it that none of them noticed the blocks in the middle of the top moving out of the way and the true body coming out.

Except Rise. "The true body's out, look out!" Rise screamed, which caused Chie and Yosuke to turn and see the thing.

The shadow glanced before the two, before deciding to move at Chie. Only to get punched away Kanji's persona. The shadow staggered a little, before letting out a baby-like cry. Then it glanced angrily at Yosuke, who it was punched closer to. Before the shadow or it's would be victim could do anything, the shadow got hit by a Bufula.

"We'll keep it busy," Kanji shouted from the ground, "You just get those two out of there!"

"Okay," Yosuke answered for the both of them. The Junes boy had already dealt decent damage on the top of the block, but his daggers just wouldn't deal with this fast enough. "Jiraiya!" Yosuke called his persona to assist.

Chie had the same idea as Tomoe kept stabbing the block near the edges, just so she wouldn't stab Viljam by accident. "Just a little longer and I got you," Chie muttered to herself in worry.

Down below, Yukiko was keeping her distance from the still active body of the shell, while Kanji and Teddie had to move around so that the thing couldn't hit them. Whenever, the thing would throw a bomb, Yukiko fired Maragilaos at them. Or if by some chance a bomb hit any of them, she would heal them.

All the while Rise kept scanning for any changes in the monster. "Oh no!" Rise exclaimed.

"What is it, Rise-chan," Yukiko asked, even as she cast a diarama on Kanji, who got blindsided by the shadow's sword.

"Chie-senpai! Yosuke-senpai! I don't know what's going on, but the two are getting weaker, you gotta get them out now," Rise cried out.

"Dammit! Well, guess I made it just in time," Yosuke said as Jiraiya had finished cutting off the top of the block, by using the shurikens attached to it's palms like buzzsaws. "What the hell," Yosuke then exclaimed as he only saw darkness inside. Against his better judgment, Yosuke pocketed one of his daggers and reached into the black box. Strangely, he couldn't feel anything in it. Almost like the box was bigger on the inside. "Yu! Are you there," Yosuke shouted into the bottomless block.

Chie had the same problem. After Tomoe managed to break off the top of block, the green clad girl only managed to find endless darkness instead of Viljam. "Nousku-kun, where are you," Chie shouted inside, the block. No response.

While this was happening, Kanji's persona had managed to get Shadow Mitsuo's real body in a choke hold. And all the ugly baby could do was cry and kick like a baby. **"GARUDYNE!"** Or so they thought.

Down on the ground, Kanji was hit by very strong wind. "GRAAGGH!" the punk cried out in pain as he was downed. Kanji was weak to wind and worse yet, his persona faded, setting the shadow free again.

Yosuke glanced up at Shadow Mitsuo, which was glancing between Chie and Yosuke unsure which on it should attack. Before it could settle on something, the shadow was hit by an Agilao from Yukiko.

Unfortunately, this caused Yukiko to leave herself open for the next bomb that the shell threw. The Amagi heiress was flung back, as she cried in pain.

"YUKIKO!" Chie cried out, pausing what she was doing. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" Chie shouted in rage, before summoning Tomoe to hit the almost recovered true body. Then Chie prepared to give a kick to the shadow herself.

"CHIE!" Yukiko shouted, causing the green clad girl to stop. "Don't worry about me, save Nousku-kun," the black haired girl shouted.

"Diarama!" Came from Teddie, and Yukiko was back on her feet again.

Seeing as Yukiko was healed, Chie, almost reluctantly, turned back to the white block.

As all of this was happening, Yosuke was frantically moving his hand around in the darkness of the bottomless cube in search of Yu. "Yu, if you can hear me, then at least make a sound or something," Yosuke shouted into the block.

Chie was in a similar situation, "NOUSKU-KUN!". Chie thought that yelling at the top of her lungs would help her get a response, but no such luck. "Come on already, Yukiko's worried about you," Chie said more to herself than to call out Viljam.

Just as Shadow Mitsuo finally shook off Take and Kintoki, who had once again come to keep it at bay, Yosuke and Chie grabbed something. A hand. Without wasting any time, the two pulled what they had caught up, and sure enough, Yu and Viljam were pulled out.

At that moment Shadow Mitsuo, got irritated at not being allowed to kill it's victims. So it decided to fire a magarudyne at everyone. Yosuke and Chie were blown off alongside the person they were each holding.

"JIRAIYA! TOMOE!" the two cried out, and their personas caught them.

"You okay, Yu," Yosuke asked the silver haired boy as Jiraiya descended while carrying the two.

"Yeah. Thanks, Yosuke," Yu said, even though he seemed a little disoriented.

Chie had a similar situation, but Viljam didn't answer her. He just kept looking. Then Chie noticed the wet streaks on the Finnish boy's face that led beneath his glasses, which the green clad girl couldn't see through. "What happened to you," Chie asked in concern, even as they landed.

After, landing the four were instantly surrounded by their friends.

"Narukami-kun, Nousku-kun, are you alright," Yukiko was the first to ask.

Yu turned to his friends, who all had concerned looks. "Yeah, I'm fine now," the silver haired boy said, while eyeing everyone with a relieved look.

"Nousku-kun, come on," Chie said as she tried to pull Viljam back up. As soon as they landed, Viljam slid to his knees, with only the sickle end of his weapon in hand with it's weight end carelessly on the floor.

Viljam did get up shakily, before glancing at Chie. "You saved me," Viljam said like he had a hard time believing it.

"Of course," Chie said cheerfully. That cheerfulness gave way to shock as Viljam quickly hugged her.

Chie barely had any time to register what was happening, before Viljam released the hug. "I'm sorry, but I had to do that," Viljam said, while looking away from Chie.

Any response the green clad girl might've had was interrupted by Shadow Mitsuo screaming and throwing a tantrum. Then the true body retreated back to the remaining shell.

"So that's our enemy," Yu said, glaring at the thing. "Rise-chan, does it have any weaknesses," the silver haired boy asked, while preparing his katana.

"It doesn't have any weaknesses," Rise said. After all the attacks they had rained on both the shell and the true body, Rise had been able to gauge their properties. "But it isn't resistant to anything either," Rise said as a silver lining.

"Okay, let's finish this," Yu said, determined to pay back what that shadow did to him and Viljam.

Speaking of Viljam, whatever emotional distress he had seemed to have left him as he gathered up the chain of his weapon.

"Teddie, power up everyone again," Rise said and Teddie did so, using another matarukaja.

"Yosuke, Satonaka, Kanji, full frontal assault," Yu said as he had Oni prepare power charge.

The three persona users did as they were told. With Jiraiya firing his shurikens at the body, Take striking at the shell's leg and Tomoe striking the other leg.

"Go, Okuninushi," Yu called out an armored samurai persona. Okuninushi drew out his sword and stabbed it straight through the body of the shell.

The combined assault was enough to destroy the rest of the outer shell, revealing the shadow's true body.

"Twin Arcana is ready," Rise informed the gang.

This information caused Viljam to have a sinister grin. "Yukiko," Viljam called his host sister.

Yukiko was about to move in but..., "NO!"... she was interrupted by Yu. "Not yet," the silver haired leader said sternly.

"Oh come on, it's exposed, right," Viljam said, pointing at the ugly thing.

"Sorry, but I don't think Twin Arcana is enough to finish it off," Rise said helpfully.

"See," Yu said, with a look that said "I told you so". "Just wait for my signal. Both of you." The last one was directed at Yukiko too.

"Alright," Viljam agreed grudgingly.

"If you're sure," Yukiko added her concent.

"Payback time," Kanji shouted as Take fired a Zionga at the shadow.

"Dis!" Yu called a teal skinned sorceress to cast a mind charge. Followed by an agidyne.

The shadow responded by wailing before using Maragidyne.

Everyone took varying levels of damage, except Viljam was knocked out by the fire. This was quickly fixed when Yukiko used recarm on her guest brother. Teddie followed suit with a mediarama on everyone.

Viljam used rakunda as an act of vengeance. "Nyt sattuu," Viljam said sinisterly. Though if anyone had paid attention, they would've noticed that Louhi looked very angrily at the shadow.

"It's almost down, just few more hits," Rise said, getting everyone in high spirits.

As if in protest, Shadow Mitsuo let out a shrill cry, which forced everyone to cover their ears.

Then summoned more blocks to reform it's protective shell.

"NOW!" Yu shouted at Viljam and Yukiko.

The two quickly got to it and used Twin Arcana. Funny thing everyone noticed, Louhi and Konohana looked at each other and seemed to nod in a silent agreement, with Louhi actually smiling, before they went through the familiar motions. Right before the blocks could form a new character, they were consumed by the multicolored flames.

When the flames died down, all the blocks were burned and even Shadow Mitsuo looked badly burned.

"Everyone, let's end this," Yu said, bringing out Izanagi.

At those words, Teddie used Kintoki to fire the missile, sending the ugly shadow flying. Straight into Kanji, who had Take swat it away using his sword like a bat. The shadow could barely register what was happening, before it got hit by and Agilao and Bufula from Konohana Sakuya and Louhi. Then it's trajectory was altered by Tomoe drop kicking on it's head. After smacking on the ground, the shadow tried to float back up, only to be struck back by Jiraiya's shurikens. Finally, Izanagi cut off the shadows cries by stabbing it's head. Causing it to finally revert.

"That was rough," Kanji commented.

"In more ways than one," Viljam said, looking at still unconcious Mitsuo. Actually, how did he avoid all the chaos while Viljam and Yu were sealed away?

Scratch that, the guy was regaining conciousness. "What the hell happened," Mitsuo asked as he got up.

"Finally awake, huh," Yosuke said, "You've been a major pain in the ass.".

"Who the hell are you guys," Mitsuo said, ignoring their questions.

"We came to capture you," Yu simply answered, "The police is already after you for the murders and we're handing you over to them.".

"The murders...," Mitsuo muttered, before he bursted into gleeful laughter. "That's right! I killed them all! Not just that bastard Morooka, but also that stupid announcer and that Konishi bitch too," Mitsuo said like he was proud of his actions.

Yu was honestly surprised that Yosuke didn't do something drastic just now. Although the Junes boy was clenching his his fists in anger.

"I killed all of them, it was all me!" Mitsuo hollered in glee. Then the reverted shadow faded away surprising everyone.

"What the!" Chie exclaimed in surprise, "Where did it go!?".

"That's new," Viljam said, more confused than surprised.

Mitsuo turned to look at the area his shadow occupied. "*hehheh* It's gone. That freaking impostor is gone," the creepy looking boy said. "TAKE THAT YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Mitsuo hollered in glee, before collapsing into a fainted heap.

"H-hey," Kanji called out, thinking the guy died right then and there.

"He's only exhausted," Rise said.

"Let's just get him out of here fast," Yu said before turning to Kanji and Yosuke. "I know you two probably don't want to do this, but can you help carry him out," Yu asked, knowing what at least Yosuke must be thinking about this guy.

"You're right I don't," Yosuke sighed, before moving to Mitsuo, "But I'll do it anyway.".

With that, Kanji and Yu also went to help carrying Mitsuo out of here.

No one noticed that Viljam had glanced one more time at the arena, before looking at his left hand for some reason. After shaking his head to clear a certain thought away, he caught up with the others.

 **(Junes. August 2nd. Some time later)**

The gang had brought Mitsuo out of the TV World.

Speaking of the creepy boy, he was regaining conciousness again. "Where am I?" Was the first thing Mitsuo said.

"Can't you tell, it's Junes," Yu said with unusual snark.

"What the hell are you guys," Mitsuo then asked, while clutching his head.

"Are you really the killer," Yu asked, earning questioning looks from others.

"Get off my back... I already said I did it," Mitsuo said with an annoyed look.

"Why," Rise asked, "How could you do such a thing!?".

"Three people are dead because of you," Chie added in.

At those words, Mitsuo laughed. "Everyone's talking about it, right? It's a huge deal... And I did it all by myself," the beady eyed boy said like he was proud of it.

"You just wanted the attention," Yosuke said, having a hard time believing what he was hearing.

Yukiko had just about enough of Mitsuo's nonsense. "Then why did you kidnap me and the others!? How did you even do it," the black haired girl demanded.

Mitsuo turned to look at Yukiko in surprise. "Whoa... Look who it is... Hello Yuki," Mitsuo said creepily.

"Just answer me!" Yukiko shouted, ignoring Mitsuo's words, "If you had a grudge against me, that's fine, but why the others!?".

Mitsuo chuckled again, "Stupid bitch. I didn't care who I attacked. Everyone pisses me off.".

Now Yosuke saw red. "You WHAT!? You killed Saki-senpai for nothing!? YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"I hope you're ready for what's coming to ya," Kanji said angrily and picked Mitsuo by the front of his shirt.

"Kanji-kun," Yukiko exclaimed in concern that the punk would do something drastic.

"What're you gonna do? Kill me," Mitsuo asked with a smile.

"It ain't gonna be that easy you piece of shit," Kanji said, before dropping the guy. "You're gonna rot in jail and ain't allowed to kick the bucket until you understand exactly what you've done," Kanji added.

"Well said Kanji," Yu agreed, before taking out his phone.

"What're you doing," Yosuke asked.

"Calling the police of course," Yu replied.

While that was happening, Viljam had moved in. "Hey! Remember me," Viljam asked Mitsuo with an unreadable expression.

Mitsuo looked at Viljam before smiling creepily, "You again? *heheh* Are you gonna hit me again?".

To the surprise of everyone Viljam just sighed before moving away. Why didn't he punch Mitsuo? He had every right to be that angry.

"Don't ignore me!" Mitsuo shouted, but Viljam refused to acknowledge him.

 **(Junes Food Court. Few minutes later)**

After police came to pick up Mitsuo, the gang had sat down in the food court. They still had a hard time wrapping their head around Mitsuo's motive.

"All for attention... Just why," Chie wondered.

"Things that don't make sense start making sense with right conditions," Viljam sighed.

"Speaking of which, why didn't you punch him. I mean, I thought you hated him," Yosuke asked Viljam, who sighed again.

"He wasn't worth it," the Finnish boy replied, "I mean, that guy would've just taken it as another form of attention.".

"That... actually makes some sense," Yu said in wonder at Viljam's words.

"Guess there's no point in wondering, now that it's over," Yosuke sighed. At those words, everyone seemed a little depressed for some reason. Viljam and Yu more than others.

Rise caught onto the mood and decided to change it. "Hey, why don't we have a celebration," Rise suggested cheerfully, which earned her everyone's attention, "My agency always held one when we were done with a photo shoot or a concert. It could help us have a closure.".

Chie looked like she was in for the idea, "Ooh, a party! Let's go all out!".

Teddie, who was out of his costume, perked up at a certain idea he had, "Oh oh! I wanna go to Yuki-chan's house!"

"Why," was Viljam's question.

"Gorgeous dinners, hot springs, table tennis, yukata! Geisha! Fujiyama! Full WOOTNESS!" Teddie exclaimed in excitement, earning sweat drops from others.

"Yukiko-senpai's family does run an inn with hot springs," Kanji said thoughtfully, "Hot springs where...Yukiko-senpai bathes... in." Kanji blushed as the last phrase went out of his mouth.

"Dude, you sound like a creep," Yosuke deadpanned at Kanji.

"Also, Yukiko isn't the only one bathing there," Viljam added in, earning shocked looks from everyone except Yu and Yukiko. "What!?" Viljam exclaimed, getting uncomfortable at the stares.

"Do you realize how that sounded," Yosuke asked the Finnish boy who had double question marks.

"No."

"How can you not," Rise asked in mixture of shock and skepticism.

"He just doesn't," Yu said easily.

"What're you talking about," Viljam asked, clearly lost.

"Anyway," Yukiko interrupted surprisingly, "It would be fun, but I don't think it's possible today.".

"Oh right. It's summer vacation, the inn is probably fully booked," Chie said in disappointment.

"No sleep over," Teddie said in disappointment.

"Maybe another time. I promise," Yukiko said in a comforting tone, which seemed to work on Teddie.

Then a light bulb went off in Yosuke's head, " Hey Yu. Why don't we hit your place?".

That earned a surprised look from Yu. "Sure, I don't mind," Yu said after a moment of thought.

"Won't your uncle get suspicious," Kanji asked, "Like why we're partying?".

"That won't be a problem," Yu said with a sigh, "Knowing uncle, he'll be too busy at work to come home.". Then Yu looked thoughtful, "Actually, do you guys mind if Nanako is there?".

Everyone had completely forgotten the little girl. Then they also remembered that Dojima not coming home would mean Nanako would be alone.

"No we don't," Chie spoke for everyone, and others nodded in agreement.

"Now that that was mentioned," Viljam said in thought, "Nanako might be getting hungry.".

"Hey! Why don't we cook dinner for Nanako-chan," Yukiko suggested eagerly.

"Wow! Are you a good cook Yukiko-senpai," Rise asked in wonder.

At this moment Yu inched closer to Viljam. "Has Amagi-san gotten any better," Yu whispered to Viljam. The answer Yu got was a shake of a head.

Unfortunately for Viljam, Yukiko had practiced cooking a few times a week for the last few weeks, and asked Viljam to taste test it. Strangely for Yukiko whenever she went to Viljam's room to ask him to taste test, he wasn't there. Or so Viljam would have her believe, but the truth is, he always hid behind his couch when Yukiko knocked on his door. Other times, when Viljam happened to stumble upon her cooking, Yukiko only had to turn her back on him for an instant and he would 'vanish'. You'd think Yukiko would get the hint after the first three times Viljam has avoided her cooking, but to this day she has remained oblivious.

"Did you already forget the tragedy of the school campout!" Yosuke shouted at Yukiko and Chie, for the green clad girl had added her input on the cooking idea.

"That was an accident," Chie retorted.

"We just got a couple ingredients wrong," Yukiko added in.

" _An accident that caused us faint?_ " was the thought that Yu was so tempted to voice, but didn't want to hurt their feelings.

"Teddie just had a great idea," Teddie suddenly exclaimed, "Let's have a cooking battle! The winner will be crowned the Iron Cook Inaba!"

"Now I'm really worried," Yosuke said, and he was right to be worried, because the girls seemed all for the idea. "Partner, you gotta cook something too to save our stomachs," the Junes boy said.

"What, but I-" "Help us Yu Narukami! You're our only hope," Yosuke begged, even putting his hands together in a begging manner.

Viljam covered his mouth to hide a snicker at the reference, lest Yosuke force him into this too.

"Fine, I suppose I should do that," Yu said in resignation, not that he was entirely against it.

"Alright, you can represent the guy's team," Chie said, getting in high spirits about this.

"Teddie wants to be a taste tester," Teddie said enthusiastically.

"I can be a tester too," Kanji added in.

"Alright, to the grocery section," Chie exclaimed as she got up, "CHAAARGE!".

 **(Junes Grocery Section. August 2nd. Daytime)**

The gang were currently in the grocery section of the Junes, and Yu was talking to Nanako on his phone. Yukiko had suggested that they would let Nanako choose the dish they would cook and Yu had just asked what it would be.

" _Umm... Anything's fine,_ " Nanako said.

"Nanako says anything's fine," Yu relayed to others.

"She's just being modest. Try asking again," Yukiko said.

"Nanako, don't be shy, we can cook anything you want," Yu said into the phone.

Nanako was quiet for a moment. "I want omelette... with fried rice," Nanako said happily.

"Then that's what we're making. We'll be there as soon as were done grocery shopping," Yu said to the phone. He had already told Nanako about the gang coming too.

" _Okay. Bye,_ " Nanako said, and the two hung up.

"She said she wanted omelette with fried rice," Yu relayed Nanako's wish.

"Excellent choice," Yosuke said with relief, "With a dish that simple, I doubt we'd get another dose of Mystery Food X.".

"*snrk*"

"Nousku-kun." Yukiko and Chie said in a warning tone.

"Sorry."

Chie still stared at the Finnish boy with an annoyed look, but then decided to focus on more important things. "Let's just get the ingredients," Chie said in annoyance, and with that the girls split up.

"Uhh... Why're they going to different sections of the store, if they're making the same thing," Yosuke asked with dread. Indeed the girls went to different directions. "Say, what kind of omelette are you going to make? I'll go get the ingredients for you," Yosuke said, wanting to get his mind off of the dread of what the girls(minus Rise) are planning.

"You don't have to do that," Yu said sincerely.

"I know, but I think I should help you any way I can," Yosuke replied easily.

"Alright then," Yu said before whispering in Yosuke's ear the ingredients he needed.

"Got it, be back soon," Yosuke said before walking away to get the ingredients.

"I'll go get some drinks," Kanji said before he walked off as well.

"Anything I can do," Viljam offered. He had been standing around waiting for something to do.

Yu looked thoughtful for a moment, before a light bulb went off in his head, "How would you feel about helping me make this?".

That got a shocked look out of Viljam. "Yu-san, I've never even heard of omelette with fried rice before," the Finnish boy admitted.

"Then consider this a learning experience," Yu said easily, "Honestly, considering your previous show of cooking, I trust you more than Yosuke.". The silver haired boy didn't mean anything bad by that, but Yosuke himself gave the impression that he wasn't very good.

"...If you're sure," Viljam said, though he didn't sound very reassured.

"Don't worry. I'll walk you through the whole thing," Yu said, while patting Viljam's shoulder.

After that, Yu started to give Viljam a rundown of how the dish was made, gaining occasional nod from Viljam to signal his understanding. During this, everyone minus Kanji had returned with the ingredients and put them on their cart.

"Foie gras?" Yosuke said, wondering who put that in there.

Turns out it was Rise. "Quite an eye you got there Yosuke-senpai," the teen idol said happily. "It's an important ingredient for my special omelette," the girl continued proudly

"Must be pretty fancy then," Yu commented idly.

"You'll get to try it soon, Yu-senpai," Rise said happily, before having a thoughtful look. "Maybe I could spoon feed you," Rise said with a chuckle, which was shared by Viljam.

That earned the Finnish boy some weird looks. "What? Yu-san isn't that helpless," Viljam said defensively. Once again, making everyone question how his brain works.

"Anyway," Rise said, regaining everyone's attention, still smiling. "I heard that last time, you choked on something so awful that words couldn't describe it," Rise said sympathetically.

"It was horrible," Yosuke agreed melodramatically, earning tick marks from Yukiko and Chie.

"Yeah," Yu said without thinking, fueling the other two girls' ire.

This earned a sad look from Rise, "You poor dears... Who could do such a thing to you.".

As this was happening, Viljam had inched away from everyone, fearing for his life.

"Rise-san," Chie started with a sickly sweet tone, "This is the only time you get to gloat. Are we clear?"

"I'll crush you with one strike," Yukiko added in calmly, while doing a slitting motion across her neck with her thumb.

" _What have I gotten myself into,_ " Yu asked himself for the umpteenth time. No really, he had asked that question of himself so many times he lost count over these past few months. Still, Rise looking worried about them did feel a little nice.

"You guys look like you're ready for a fight," Kanji said as he walked in with a couple of soda bottles in his hands.

"Kanji-kun, that's alcohol," Yukiko exclaimed, pointing at one bottle in particular.

Kanji looked down at the bottle in question, and sure enough it was a type of alcohol bottle. The punk looked embarrassed before going to put it back where he found it.

"By the way, where's Teddie," Chie then asked, realizing that the bear/boy had disappeared at some point.

"Miss, am I allowed to eat this?" the gang heard Teddie's voice not too far away.

When they turned to look, they saw Teddie at one of the sample trays. He was sweet talking to the female worker in her mid to late twenties. What made everyone sweatdrop or twitch an eye was that Teddie was sweet talking to the woman while having some of the cooked meat samples, and judging by the woman's faint blush and embarrassed demeanor, it was working. Even though the woman tried to remind herself that she has a husband and a kid.

"I'm gonna beat the stuffing out of that bear," Yosuke growled.

 **(Dojima Household. August 2nd. Evening)**

The gang was currently working around in the kitchen of the Dojima household. It was pretty small for several cooks at once, but they managed. The girls were all happily doing their own concoctions for their respective omelettes. Rise seemed pretty sure about winning, while the other two just wanted to beat her. Yu was currently mixing the omelette

Kanji and Yosuke had nothing to do, so they were just talking with each other.

Teddie however was sitting with Nanako. "Rise-chan was right... This celebration does make me feel like it's all over," the blonde boy mused. Then he looked a little depressed, "I should go back soon.".

Nanako, who up until now was still excited about Rise being in her house, caught onto Teddie's words. "Are you going somewhere," Nanako asked innocently.

"Yup...the guys kept their promise," Teddie replied to Nanako.

At that moment Yu had come to Teddie. The silverhaired boy noticed Teddie's depression and came to see what was wrong.

Teddie turned towards his sensei, "Sensei, thank you for keeping your promise. Now that the case is over I have to go back.".

"Why," Yu asked, simply earning a surprised look from the blonde.

"Because I no longer have a reason to be here," Teddie said.

"Teddie, just because the case is over doesn't mean you have to go back immediately," Yu said to the bear. Sure Teddie was originally from the TV world, but Yu considers him a friend as much as the rest of the gang.

Unfortunately, Teddie still didn't look convinced.

"What if you made a promise with me," Nanako suggested, earning Teddie's attention. "What if you promise to play with me," the little girl asked the boy, who looked happy about the prospect.

"A promise with Nanako-chan," Teddie said in thought. "That's a promise," Teddie said happily earning a "yay!" from Nanako.

"Yu-san, I think this is good," Viljam interrupted the conversation. Yu had left Viljam to finish the mixture. With that, Yu went back to work.

"Thank you, Sensei," Teddie called after Yu, who replied by turning briefly to smile at the boy.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Everyone was seated in front of the small table. A new experience for Viljam who was used to sitting on a chair. This table was so low that everyone was sitting on the floor, with a cushion under them.

"Bon appetit," Rise said cheerfully.

"How many guys would kill me if they heard that I'm eating Risette's cooking," Yosuke said with a dreamy look, which caused Yu and Viljam to roll their eyes a little. Then Yosuke took a spoonful and tasted it.

The gang had an agreement that they would taste them all before Nanako, because according to Yosuke, Nanako trying first would be unethical. Didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.

"...I can't give this to Nanako-chan," Yosuke said with a painful expression that caused alarm bells to ring in Yu's and Viljam's heads.

"Oh it's so delicious that you don't want anyone else to eat it," Rise said happily. "How about you, Yu-senpai?".

As much as Yu wanted to pass, Rise's expectant look made him feel bad for even considering telling her so. Therefore, Yu had no choice, but to brace himself for the inevitable and took a spoonful. Sure enough, Yu felt a burning sensation in his mouth, if this was a cartoon he would probably be breathing fire now. "I...uhhh," Yu couldn't find the words as he felt tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry, it's so spicy that it hurts," Yu caved in, earning a shocked look from Rise.

That statement made Viljam curious, so he sniffed the still steaming omelette. The Finnish boy instantly recoiled, holding his nose in pain. "Polttaa!" Viljam cried out, pinching his nose and rubbing it to quell the burning sensation. This action was rewarded by a..."AAATSIIH!". Thankfully Viljam sneezed away from everyone. Though the gang was more surprised at the volume of his voice. "...sorry," Viljam said in shame.

"Terbeudekshi," Yukiko said with some difficulty, earning shocked looks from others.

"Kiitos," Viljam replied, "Though it's said, terveydeksi.".

"Since when did Yukiko know Finnish," Chie asked in shock of her best friend knowing Viljam's language.

"Nousku-kun has been teaching me for a while," Yukiko revealed. "Anyway, try mine now," Yukiko said eagerly.

"Uhh...sure," Kanji said, still surprised as the rest.

Yosuke pushed the new information at the back of his head after seeing Kanji's spoonful. "Uhh... Kanji, that's a lot," The Junes boy said warningly, for he still remembered Mystery Food X.

Three people expected Kanji to at least gag, but instead he took another spoonful with a skeptical look.

"Well. How is it," Yukiko asked in excitement.

"It's uhhh...boneless," Kanji said unsurely.

"That's not how you describe a taste," Yukiko said in annoyance.

During this Viljam had also taken a spoonful. After rolling the omelette in his mouth, making sure it got to all of his taste buds, he had a weird look. "...I didn't think I could bite air," Viljam said in a weirded out tone.

"What's that supposed to mean," Yukiko asked in an increasingly annoyed tone.

Now Yu had the courage to taste, since even the self-proclaimed picky eater could stomach it. "There's no taste," Yu said in surprise." _How is that possible,_ " the silver haired boy couldn't help but think, considering some of the ingredients he saw Yukiko using.

"Yeah," Kanji added in, "It's amazing how you put so many ingredients into a dish and it doesn't taste anything.".

"Well your palates just aren't refined enough," Yukiko said clearly offended.

Then out of nowhere Nanako tries Yukiko's omelette. "I think it tastes good," Nanako said happily earning shocked and questioning looks from anyone that wasn't Yukiko.

"Nanako-chan," Yukiko said, clearly in a better mood.

"Try mine next," Chie said eagerly.

"Teddie will try it," Teddie said and took a spoonful of it. Then another one.

"How is it," Chie asked with hope.

"Wow! This is awful," Teddie cheered, earning weirded out looks and a look of betrayal from Chie. "Yosuke, you gotta try this," the boy said happily.

"No way! Not after what you said," Yosuke refused.

"Why don't you try it Villy," Teddie then asked, Viljam who both flinched and frowned.

"Teddie, that nickname brings bad memories, please stop calling me that," Viljam said in an annoyed tone. "Also, no thanks," Viljam then said about Chie's cooking.

"Come on. You can't trust Teddie's word, right," Chie said in a pleading tone she didn't know she had.

"No," Viljam said, but his resolve started to fade when Chie had a pleading look. It wasn't in her face, but rather her eyes. "Fine, but if something bad happens I'm blaming you," Viljam said before taking a miniscule piece of Chie's omelette.

"Really dude," Yosuke commented about the size of the portion. How is Viljam supposed to taste anything from something that was barely the size of a fingernail tip.

Viljam plucked the thing in his mouth and his face nearly instantly contorted into a look of disgust, but he was able to swallow. "I'm sorry...," Viljam said in a small voice. He couldn't just say that it wasn't edible to him and hurt Chie's feelings.

Unfortunately, it looked like Chie got the idea.

"Well at least he didn't faint," Yosuke said consolingly, "That alone says it's a huge improvement from Mystery Food X.".

"Thanks... I feel soooo much better," Chie said sarcastically.

Then they saw Nanako tasting it. "I think it tastes good," Nanako said.

"Thank you Nanako-chan," Chie said happily.

Then Yukiko tasted it too out of curiosity. "Wow! They're right this tastes awful," Yukiko said before laughing.

" _If it tastes so bad, then why are you laughing,_ " was the collective question on the gangs head.

"Well why don't you try Rise-chan's? I'm sure mine is better than hers," Chie challenged, and Yukiko took it.

"URGK!" Was the last sound they heard from Yukiko before she fainted.

"YUKIKO!" Chie cried out, instantly regretting the challenge.

"Sure enough... One strike," Kanji idly commented.

"I don't think that's what she had in mind," Viljam said, moving in to check on Yukiko. "Well... She's alive at least," Viljam said after trying her pulse.

"Well...at least Satonaka's didn't cause any casualties," Yosuke said with a nervous grin.

Rise did not look happy to hear that. "It's a mature flavor," Rise retorted with tears forming in her eyes. "You're all just a bunch of kids... I... I... WAAAH!" And now the tears were flowing freely.

Nanako took a spoonful of Rise's omelette, before anyone could even think of stopping her. "It's spicy, but it's still good," Nanako said, her smile never leaving her face.

Before anyone could question Nanako's sense of taste or her stomach that was apparently made of steel, Rise visibly perked up as if she never cried in the first place, "Thank you Nanako-chan.". Then the teen idol turned to the rest of the gang, "Nananko-chan is the only mature one here.".

"Crocodile tears," Chie said in disbelief. A sentiment shared by the others... others who were still concious anyway.

"Never thought I'd see them in real life," Viljam commented with a blank look.

"We haven't tasted Yu-senpai's yet," Kanji idly commented.

"Viljam helped," Yu reminded everyone.

"I didn't do much," Viljam said not feeling like he did anything.

Nanako quickly took a spoonful, eager to try Yu's cooking. "This is great! The best omelette I've tasted," Nanako said beaming, which earned a grateful smile from Yu. Viljam was just happy to see Nanako smiling, and for the fact that he had a part in it however small.

Viljam also got curious about the omelette and tasted it himself. "Weird," Viljam said earning weird looks from others. "I'm not used to eating something like this, but maybe I could get used to it," Viljam clarified his words.

"Well..., you did say you're a picky eater," Yu shrugged, not really bothered. People have different tastes after all.

 **(After the dinner)**

Sadly since two out of four omelettes were horrible, there wasn't exactly enough to feed nine mouths. Well, eight, because Yukiko was still unconcious, though Chie had helped her on the couch to rest earlier.

"I'm still starving," Yosuke complained.

"Well, maybe you should've eaten the 'horrible' omelette," Chie snarked, she was still a little sore about Viljam's extreme reaction. Honestly, it was a miracle the green clad girl didn't just go and kick him. Thankfully for Viljam, he was safely out of kicking range. Also it helped that Viljam apologized, though not by much

"Urrgghh..." came the voice that made everyone turn to the source. The source being Yukiko regaining conciousness. "Wh-what... happened?".

"Rise-chan's omelette knocked you out," Chie said, as she had instantly moved to check on her best friend.

Yukiko blinked. "Oh?" was the surprisingly simple answer. Then as she got up, Viljam looked apologetic.

"Sorry, we already ate everything," Viljam said in sympathy. He says that, but most of it was allowed to be eaten by Nanako.

"Did Nanako-chan at least get enough," Yukiko asked, even though she was a little sad that she didn't get to taste Yu's omelette.

"Yeah, thanks," Nanako thanked everyone happily, earning smiles.

"If it makes you feel better we ate yours too," Kanji said, though what he left unsaid was that most of them, namely Viljam, poured a little salt on the omelette to at least give it some flavor.

"Thank you," Yukiko said smiling, forgetting that they initially said it was tasteless. Suddenly, Yukiko almost lost her balance, but Chie quickly righted her.

"Are you okay," Chie asked in concern.

"Yes, just a little light-headed," Yukiko said, while shaking her head to clear it.

At Yukiko's words, everyone turned towards Rise with a disturbed look. "You can't blame me for that," the teen idol complained.

"I think maybe we should all start heading home," Yosuke said.

That earned some looks from others, "Well..., mom did want me home before nine," Kanji admitted.

"And I think Yukiko needs to get home to rest," Viljam added, still a little worried that Yukiko might collapse any second.

Then Yosuke looked like he remembered something. "Oh right! Don't forget the festival is coming up soon," the Junes boy said in excitement.

"What festival," Viljam asked confused.

"The Tanabata Festival of course," Yosuke explained like it was obvious, earning a more confused look from Viljam.

"You don't know what it is do you." Yu's sentence wasn't a question but a statement, earning a shake of Viljam's head for a no. "Well..., the festival has mythological roots," Yu started, earning Viljam's attention.

"As interesting as that may be we need to plan on how we're gonna spend it," Yosuke interrupted the explanation, much to Viljam's chagrin.

That made Teddie perk up. "Oh my gosh! Does this mean the girls are gonna wear yukatas," the blonde boy cheered.

"Probably," Yu said, before turning to the girls, "Are you?".

A collective confirmation came from the three girls.

"We can even take Nanako-chan with us," Rise added in.

"I can come," Nanako asked eagerly.

"Of course," Yu replied, earning a hug from Nanako.

"Tulee mieleen Kirppu," Viljam idly muttered about the siblingly moment, but no one took note of it.

After the little moment, everyone returned home, though Chie went with Viljam and Yukiko to ensure that her best friend would make it home alright.

* * *

 **AN: There you have it folks, the longest chapter I've written. Don't worry though, I won't make a habit of making this long chapters in the future. Or that's what I'm trying anyway.**

 **To those of you who wonder what was so special about Viljam's ordeal, that's gonna be mentioned again in the future. How far in the future? You just wait and see.**

 **Fun fact of the day: My family occasionally calls my little sister Kirppu, which is our term of endearment for her.**

 **Translations:**

Nyt sattuu= **Now hurts**

Polttaa= **It Burns**

Kiitos= **Thank you**

Terveydeksi= **Bless you**

Tulee mieleen Kirppu= **Reminds me of Flea( To those of you who wonder how a flea is a cute nickname, it's the difference in language. The Finnish word Kirppu sounds cuter than the English word Flea. If you feel like trying for yourselves, try saying Kirppu, and remember to pop the ps)**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

 **AN: I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I did too good with this one, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to improve.**

 **Translations at the bottom**

* * *

 **(Dojima household. August 3rd. Morning)**

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that," Yu said into the phone, not sure if he heard correctly. The silver haired boy was currently spending some time with Nanako in the living room, until his phone had rung.

" _I need some tips for possible spices or marinades for a steak._ " Came the voice of Viljam from the other end of the line.

"Well..., have you tried checking the internet," Yu asked.

" _I trust you more than the internet,_ " was Viljam's simple reply, " _Besides..., Yukiko insisted._ ".

Now Yu raised an eyebrow, "What does Amagi-san have to do with this?". The answer Yu got was silence..."Are you there?".

" _Oh yes..., but...*sigh*. Yukiko remembered that Chie-san's birthday was a few days ago. She wanted to do something for her,_ " Viljam said, sounding a little embarrassed.

Few days ago? Does that mean during the Mitsuo incident? If that's true, then Yu probably should do something too, but first, "Amagi-san or you.".

" _...What's that supposed to mean,_ " Viljam asked, sounding confused.

Yu resisted a sigh of disappointment at the lack of response. "Never mind. Anyway, I think I remember a marinade recipe that Satonaka-san might like. I suggest you write it down," Yu said, getting back to business. Between the few times he has trained, talked, and sometimes going to Aiya's with Chie, Yu had gauged the girl's likes fairly well.

Yu heard Viljam leaving the phone for a moment, probably to search for a pen and paper. " _Okay, start telling me,_ " Viljam said after a moment.

After few moments, Yu had told the recipe that he was sure Chie would like,"Did you get all that?".

" _Every word,_ " Viljam replied, " _Though I probably have to do a little shopping. Thanks._ ".

"You're welcome," Yu said, and with that the two hung up.

"Who was it," Nanako asked, a little curious about the conversation.

"That was Viljam, he wanted to cook a perfect steak for Satonaka-san," Yu replied.

Nanako looked thoughtful for a moment, "Are they together?".

The question was innocent, but maybe that's why Yu was taken back by it. "Not to my knowledge. Maybe he just felt obligated to do that," Yu answered after thinking for a moment. Actually, speaking of owing to someone, Yu still doesn't feel like he's thanked Yosuke properly. That, and maybe he should at least send Chie a late birthday congratulation. The silverhaired boy quickly relayed the last thought to Nanako.

"Yeah! Let's do it," Nanako cheered happily.

 **(Junes. August 3rd. Daytime)**

Chie was currently in Junes hanging out with Yukiko. The green clad girl's best friend called her to hang out about two hours ago. Chie could be imagining it, but she was pretty sure Yukiko kept checking her phone for the last few minutes.

"Yukiko, is something wrong," Chie asked, causing Yukiko to freeze for a moment.

"No! Why would anything be wrong," Yukiko said quickly. Too quickly for Chie's liking.

"Okay, now I know something's up," Chie said while staring at her best friend in suspicion.

Yukiko tried to think of something to say, before she looked like she had resigned herself to her fate. "Alright," Yukiko admitted before putting her hand into the only shopping bag she had gotten when they went their separate ways for a moment, and took something out. "I was going to wait longer, but I guess I have to give it now," Yukiko said as she handed a DVD case to Chie.

"Trial of the Dragon 2!? I thought this wasn't on sale anymore," Chie cried out in surprise. Then she got suspicious. "Why are you giving this to me," Chie asked, wondering why Yukiko would go through the trouble of getting this.

"We missed your birthday, because of the case, so I thought I should get you a late birthday present," Yukiko said, before happily adding, "Happy birthday, Chie!".

Chie had honestly forgotten her own birthday. Still now that Yukiko did this, the green clad girl had many things to say. Chie wanted to tell Yukiko how she didn't have to do that. Chie wanted to say it was okay even if Yukiko didn't get anything. Instead, Chie hugged Yukiko, before exclaiming, "You're the best friend ever!".

Yukiko couldn't help but blush at Chie's slight overenthusiasm, but she hugged back anyway. Just as they released the hug, Yukiko's phone alarmed of a new text. Yukiko quickly checked the text. " _We're ready. Bring Chie._ " the text said. Yukiko smiled as she understood what the text meant, and unknown to Chie, Yukiko had been waiting for this text for a while now.

"Why don't we go to your place," Yukiko offered, "We could watch that movie together.".

"Oh yes!" Was the happy exclamation from Chie, who was too happy to get suspicious right now.

With that, the two moved to Chie's house.

 **(Chie's House. August 3rd. Few minutes later)**

The moment Chie and Yukiko had entered the house, something assaulted their noses. The smell of a cooked food, more specifically...

"Steaaak," Chie drawled dreamily at the heavenly smell.

Soon enough, Chie's mother appeared in front of them. "Welcome back, Chie-chan, Yukiko-chan," the woman greeted them.

"Mom, did you cook steak," Chie asked eagerly, as she practically skipped towards the family kitchen.

Chie's mother didn't answer until just before Chie entered the said area, "No, he did.".

"Hi," greeted Viljam with a wave to flabbergasted Chie.

"I was worried that something went wrong," Yukiko said after entering kitchen, drawing an even more shocked look from Chie.

"What's going on," Chie asked, looking between Viljam, Yukiko and the Satonaka matriach.

"Surprise!" All three said at once.

"Yukiko told me about your birthday, when she was fretting over getting you something to make up for it. So I figured, why not make a birthday lunch for you," Viljam explained.

"I could've done it myself, but this boy insisted on making it. Though I managed to make him accept help," Chie's mother added in with a mysterious look. The two girls didn't know that the woman actually threatened to cut Viljam to pieces and feed him to Muku.

Speaking of which, a large white dog with few large brown spots suddenly ran into the room to greet Chie. This is Muku, Chie's dog.

"Hey there, Muku," Chie greeted as she started scratching and petting the big dog. Soon enough, the large dog let out a happy bark before moving to Yukiko.

"Hello, Chosokabe," Yukiko said, patting the dog too.

"Chosokabe?" Viljam questioned with question marks.

"That's what Yukiko-chan calls him," Chie's mother supplied, earning an unsure nod.

"Luckily he only really answers to Muku," Chie said proudly.

At the sound of his name, Muku turned towards his owner, before the dogs eyes landed on Viljam. Muku let out an excited bark before moving to Viljam.

The Finnish boy froze as the dog started sniffing his legs and one of the Finnish boy's hand, which was quickly pulled out of the reach of the dogs muzzle. "Can you please get him away from me," Viljam said, clearly afraid.

"Are you scared of dogs," Chie asked in amusement. She knew Muku wouldn't hurt a fly, that's why this was so amusing.

"Yes! Now please get him away from me," Viljam said, starting to tremble a little.

"Muku, come here," Chie told the dog, but he refused to budge, as he found Viljam much more interesting at the moment. "Muku, here boy," Chie tried again with equal success. Sighing in defeat, Chie moved in to grab the dog by his collar and dragging him away. Muku looked dismayed, but moved with Chie without resistance.

Only after Muku was at least three meters away, did Viljam breathe easily again.

"I only joked when I said I would feed you to Muku," Chie's mother said, thinking it was her fault Viljam was afraid of the dog.

"What!?" Came from the girls.

"It's not that. Back home there were dogs in the neighborhood that started barking the moment anyone walked past their owner's house," Viljam told the Satonaka matriarch, who nodded in acknowledgment.

"Chosokabe is better trained than that," Yukiko said proudly.

"Yukiko, I'm the one who did all the training," Chie pointed out, before turning to Viljam, "But Yukiko's right. Muku won't hurt you. He's a good boy." Chie scratched Muku's neck as she said the last line, with the dog barking happily as if to prove a point.

Viljam sighed, but he was still wary of the dog, "Sorry. It's just that I always feared that those dogs would jump over the fence and eat me.".

A moment of silence came from that. Somehow the way Viljam said it made it sound like it was natural for dogs to jump over any fence and attack whatever they see.

"Anyway, let's eat," Chie's mother cut in, hoping to end this conversation so they could get to eat. Judging by Chie practically charging to the already set table, it worked.

Turns out that in addition to big juicy steaks, there were also potato wedges.

"How is it," Viljam asked, as they let Chie do the honors of tasting it first.

The green clad girl instantly bit into her steak with a look of bliss. "Best steak I've eaten," Chie said happily.

" _Thank you, Yu-san,_ " Viljam thought as he looked happy that it was to Chie's liking. "I wasn't sure of how to cook it, but then I got this marinade recipe that you might like. So I figured I would- What?" Viljam asked the last one, because after swallowing next piece of steak Chie was staring at Viljam.

And then the green clad girl said in a completely serious tone, "Marry me.".

Few seconds of silence ensued. Yukiko had stopped mid-bite at Chie's words. Chie's mother almost choked on a potato at her daughters words. Viljam... He looked brain dead.

Then Chie's words caught up with her brain, "N-NO! I-I... That's... I just s-said whatever... came to mind," The meat loving girl managed to say through her embarrassed laughs.

"Chie Satonaka," Chie's mother said sternly, "You shouldn't say something like that, even as a joke. Especially as a joke.".

At those words, Viljam actually laughed, earning a questioning look from the three females. "You got me, Chie-san," Viljam said still chuckling out of embarrassment, "I actually thought you were serious for a moment.". As Viljam shook his head at believing Chie even for an instant, Yukiko was actually wondering if Viljam had said yes if Chie was serious.

That caused the black haired girl to giggle a little.

"Can we please pretend I never said that," Chie pleaded, blushing furiously at her blunder.

Everyone agreed to that, but then Chie's mother looked thoughtful for some reason, "Say, Nousku-kun. Why did you go through this trouble for my Chie-chan.".

That question almost made Viljam choke on his food. "...No reason," Viljam said quickly.

Judging by the frown on the older Satonaka, too quickly. "Chie has never brought a boy home, and a boy willing to cook for her at that," the woman said like she was interrogating someone, which she was at this point.

Now that it was pointed out, Chie also got curious. Why did Viljam go through the trouble? Sure, Yukiko might've told him, but he didn't have to put this much effort.

"I insisted," Yukiko said, "I told Nousku-kun about Chie's birthday and mentioned that he should do at least something."

That made Chie feel a slight pang of depression for a reason she didn't want to acknowledge at the moment. Until...

"Yukiko, I can speak for myself," Viljam said, before taking a deep breath. "I did this, because I owe Chie-san," Viljam said, earning a questioning look from Chie's mother, and a confused one from Chie. "The other day..., she really helped me with a certain issue. I felt like... I had to do something in return, however small that would be," Viljam said, while blushing at admitting something that embarrassing.

Yukiko and Chie had an understanding look. They guessed that Viljam meant Chie saving him, during the fight with Shadow Mitsuo. They would be correct.

The Satonaka matriarch hummed in acceptance, before continuing eating.

From then on, they just had some small talk while they ate in peace.

Then, as Viljam and Yukiko were gathering the dishes, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Chie said as she moved to the front door. Only to look surprised to see Yu, Nanako and Rise. "What're you guys doing here," Chie asked a little surprised.

"To wish you happy late birthday," Rise said happily.

As soon as those words were said, Yu lifted up a pack, which from the see through lid, Chie saw had a cake in it.

"Happy birthday, Chie-san," Nanako said, just a little bit nervously.

"Aww, thanks Nanako-chan," Chie said as she accepted the cake from Yu.

"I tried to invite everyone, but Yosuke and Teddie had work in Junes today, and Kanji had to help at the textile shop," Yu said.

"You didn't have to do that," Chie said getting a little embarrassed.

"Nope. But we wanted to," Rise said cheerfully.

"Yeah," Nanako added in.

"Okay then, come on in and thanks," Chie said happily, moving inside as the three new guests came in.

As the three got into the kitchen, Yukiko and Viljam were surprised to see the three newcomers. But when it was revealed that they brought cake, Chie's mother actually laughed a little, before she questioned if anyone had room for dessert. Needless to say, the answer was yes.

And after eating the cake, Chie wanted to watch the movie Yukiko got her. The genre wasn't Yukiko's or Rise's favorite, and Yu was a little worried if it would be appropriate for Nanako. Chie assured them by telling that she watched the movie when she was around Nanako's age.

The Trial of the Dragon movie is an old classic, as is it's sequel that Chie now has. When the DVD's took to the market the two movies had been put on sale for a time. Unfortunately the second movie wasn't as popular as thought, so the distribution ended. Luckily many of the existing copies never made it out of some stores. Still, Yukiko was extremely lucky to find one still on sale at Junes.

Now the gang was watching the movie in the living room with the following seating order. Chie and Viljam were sitting on either side of a couch meant for three people, with Yukiko in the middle. Yu was sitting on the floor comfortably with Nanako on his left and Rise on the right.

Yu was occasionally distracted by Rise inching closer ever so slightly, though it seemed like she decided not to completely get into the silverhaired boy's personal space. He also occasionally checked how Nanako reacted to the movie, and the little girl was at least very attentive. But she was less enthusiastic about the fight scenes. Unlike...

"TAKE THAT!" Chie exclaimed when the protagonist gave a roundhouse kick on an enemy ninja. The said ninja landing on one of his accomplices.

"Ou! Nöyryytys," Viljam said, calmer, but still clearly enjoying himself to see that the baddies were beaten left and right, some of them in a humiliating fashion.

In the middle, Yukiko shook her head a little. The only part about this movie she was actually looking forward to at least a little was the romance between the protagonist and his girlfriend. The girlfriend in question being a martial artist too.

Although when the girlfriend was kidnapped in a prior scene, Yukiko took note of the disappointed look on Viljam's face. When asked what the problem was, Viljam replied that the fighter girl fell too easily.

 **(After the movie)**

"That was awesome," Chie said happily, while hugging Yukiko.

"I'm glad you liked it Chie," Yukiko replied while hugging back. Though Yukiko was still not used to having Chie this happy, even though she's seen it many times in the past.

"The love interest was a little underpowered if you ask me," Viljam stated with a bored tone, "Otherwise, very much worth my time.".

Chie didn't like the way Viljam said it, but she agreed that the martial artist female character who was supposedly on par with the protagonist didn't do much of anything. Then again, this movie was made in a time before awesome women were a thing.

"They still made a great couple," Rise said, finding a silver lining.

"No argument there," Viljam admitted, but he still expected... more, "Chie-san's twice the woman though.".

Those words brought a moment of silence from everyone. Then Viljam blushed as he realized what he just said.

"What's that supposed to mean," Chie said, unsure of if she should feel flattered or highly suspicious.

"Just... uhh... saying whatever comes to mind," Viljam said, clearly ashamed of his words.

"Aww a lover's quarrel," Rise cooed teasingly.

"RISE-SAN/-CHAN!" Viljam and Chie cried in unison, causing them to look at each other.

"Are you guys fighting," Nanako asked nervously.

That brought the two out of their stupor.

"No. Nousku-kun is just... being an idiot," Chie said nervously, expecting Viljam to retort. But the Finnish boy just shut up and looked away in embarrassment.

"That's not nice," Nanako said sternly.

"Thank you," Viljam said quietly.

"Anyway," Yu said quickly, "Maybe we should start heading back.".

"Why? It's not late," Nanako said confused.

Before Yu could say anything, Yukiko's phone rang. "It's from the Inn," Yukiko informed everyone before answering. "Hello... What? How soon? Okay, I will come," Yukiko said into the phone, earning curious looks from others. Then Yukiko hung up the phone before sighing in disappointment. "Sorry, Chie. A large group of guests are scheduled to come today, and my help is needed," Yukiko said a little depressed that she must return home so soon.

"Aww, really," Chie complained.

"Guess we should go," Viljam said as he got off the couch.

"No, no, you don't have to come," Yukiko said, not wanting Viljam to be dragged away because of her.

"Yukiko, I'm going to make myself useful and you're not gonna stop me," Viljam said with playfully stern tone. The truth however was, that Viljam just wanted out of this situation that could easily escalate into something more embarrassing.

"You're right," Yukiko said in mock defeat.

With that, the two moved to get their shoes, so they could leave.

"Aww. Yukiko-senpai has it rough," Rise said in slight sympathy.

"Yeah," Chie mumbled. Then she had a look of determination, before going after the two.

"Where is Chie-san going," Nanako wondered aloud.

"Probably after Amagi-san and Viljam," Yu replied with a knowing look directed where the three went.

"Are those two together," Rise asked out of curiosity, "I mean, Yosuke-senpai makes it sound like they're dating.".

Yu shook his head at that, he would have to ask Yosuke to stop mouthing things like that. "No, they just get along well," Yu replied easily.

That just made Rise more curious.

As Rise started grilling Yu about details, Chie had reached Viljam and Yukiko before they went out. "Hey, Nousku-kun," Chie said, earning the two's attention.

"Yes?"

"Umm... there's something I'd like to say," Chie said with just a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Okay."

Although Viljam waited for Chie to talk, the green clad girl didn't open her mouth immediately. Instead, she gave Yukiko a meaningful look. After few seconds of blank staring, Yukiko's eyes lit up with realization. "Nousku-kun, I'm going ahead," Yukiko said quickly and left before her words even had time to register in Viljam's head.

"Mikä hänelle tuli," Viljam said, slipping to his native again.

"Umm... Nousku-kun." At that sentence, Viljam turned back to Chie. "Thanks for cooking for me," Chie said in embarrassment, "No one's done that to me before. Except mom of course".

Viljam just smiled, "Like I said, it was the least I could do to repay you.".

Chie almost looked offended. "Hey. We're friends and that doesn't cost anything," Chie said sternly, but was internally laughing at Viljam's almost fearful expression at her tone. "Besides, I would've done that to any of the others too," Chie said reassuringly.

"Thanks," Viljam said turning his head away with an embarrassed look for some reason.

Then, Chie looked around the lobby as if to make sure no one was looking, before hugging Viljam. The Finnish boy froze at the sudden tight hug, before it ended just as soon as it started.

"W-why did you do that," Viljam asked, hating that something that simple made his heart beat faster.

"...B-because I had to," Chie said nervously, mimicking Viljam's words from the last time he hugged her. Viljam could only nod in understanding. Then Chie gave him a hard look, "If you tell anyone about this, I will kick your ass." Chie's words were harsh, but there was no real anger or even annoyance to them.

"Okayy," Viljam drawled unsurely. "I mean, my lips are sealed," Viljam corrected himself, when Chie's glare intensified. "I should probably go now," Viljam said as he opened the door.

"Yeah..., bye," Chie said, turning to walk back to the living room.

Viljam was about to close the door after him, before turning back, "Chie-san.".

"What?"

"...Nothing," Viljam said before he closed the door and ran in order to catch up with Yukiko, leaving confused Chie behind.

"What was that about," Chie voiced her confusion. Oh well. Chie decided to shrug it off and move back to the living room. Only for Yu, Rise and Nanako to barge into the lobby. Actually Yu was pulling Rise by her hand and Nanako looked like she didn't fully understand what was going on.

"Sorry, Satonaka-san, but something urgent came and we need to leave," Yu said quickly as he put his shoes on, and then forced Rise to put on hers. Nanako put on her shoes without any complaints.

Chie opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but was cut off by Yu giving a farewell, before getting out. Chie blinked once, twice, "What the heck was that!".

"I don't know," Chie's mother said suddenly with a knowing look, "Maybe they didn't want you to find out they were spying on you.".

"WHAT!?"

 **(Inaba. August 3rd. Daytime)**

"Why did we have to leave," Rise whined after Yu finally stopped dragging her away from Chie's house.

"Because, Satonaka-san's mother saw us peeking into the lobby," Yu said like it was obvious.

Shortly after Chie went after Viljam and Yukiko, Rise got tired of trying to get answers from Yu and decided to see for herself. Yu tried his best to talk her out of it, but the girl wouldn't listen. So when Rise turned her words into action, Yu decided to follow to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Nanako was curious about why Rise wanted to spy on them, so she also followed.

The two walked in on Chie threatening Viljam about something, but they didn't know why. Of course seeing at least Viljam looking embarrassed, Rise's imagination went into overdrive. When Chie turned towards them, they of course pulled their heads out of sight, only to see Chie's mother looking at them with her arms crossed and a disappointed look. That's when Yu decided it would be good moment to hightail it out.

"Did we do something bad," Nanako asked unsurely.

"No Nanako," Yu said trying to be reassuring, "It wasn't bad just rude. We shouldn't have done that.".

Unfortunately, that did nothing to make Nanako feel better.

"I'm sorry Nanako-chan," Rise said, earning Nanako's attention, "Because of my selfish curiosity, you were dragged into this. So please don't blame yourself.".

"Okay, Rise-chan," Nanako said, not entirely out of it, but still in better mood.

With that, Yu started walking Nanako home, with Rise deciding to join them. Until Yu heard his phone ringing.

"It's from Satonaka-san," Yu said fearing what it was about. Still, Yu had no choice but to answer.

" _HOW MUCH DID YOU SEE!?_ " Yu had to take the phone away from his ear due to how loud Chie yelled.

Rise and Nanako flinched as they heard how angry Chie was. "Oh no," Rise said, regretting ever spying on the two.

"We saw you threatening Viljam about something, but we don't know what," Yu said truthfully, hoping that them not knowing would calm Chie down.

" _You better not spread it around, GOT IT!_ " Chie shouted the last one.

"Yes, we swear," Yu said quickly, "But please, don't be angry at Nanako.".

The said girl looked up from Rise's shoulder. The two had been hugging each other in fear of Chie's anger.

" _...Can you tell Nanako-chan that I'm not mad at her. It's you and Rise-chan who dragged her into this,_ " Chie said much calmer.

"I will pass that on," Yu said, with relief despite apparently not being off the hook. As soon as that was said, Chie hung up. "Nanako, Satonaka-san said she's not angry at you," Yu relayed the message to Nanako, who looked relieved at hearin that. "And Rise-chan, you're not off the hook anymore than I am," Yu decided to warn the teen idol.

"I'm sorry," Rise said, feeling bad for dragging Yu into this.

"It's not me you should apologize to," the silver haired boy sighed.

Without further ado, the three continued to Dojima household.

 **(Inaba. August 3rd. Few hours later)**

"... and then Ebihara-san tried to kill him," Yu finished telling Rise about the asthma attack incident.

"*ahhahahaha* Really? He just *Ahhah*...," Rise couldn't stop laughing.

After the three had arrived at Dojima household, Rise said she wanted to hang out with Yu a little more. Nanako seemed happy about it and actually encouraged him, even though she wanted to go too.

So here they were, at Souzai Daigaku sitting and talking. At some point the conversation was directed towards Viljam's "flaws" namely his learning disorder and asthma.

"Yes he did," Yu said with an amused smile. Sure Viljam was coughing his lungs out, but looking back on it, it was kinda funny. "And I had to hold Ebihara-san back, otherwise she would've succeeded," the silverhaired boy added.

"Seriously *giggle*, how did he not realize that was a bad idea," Rise said, still giggling.

"He had an asthma attack, I don't think he was able to care at that moment," Yu pointed out.

That made Rise stop laughing. "...Good point," the teen idol said, feeling a little awkward now.

"Still..., I find it weird how he casually talks about tasting blood in his throat," Yu said thoughtfully, causing Rise to look mildly disturbed.

"Sorry," Yu said quickly, "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine...," Rise said trailing off a little, while turning her gaze away. Resulting in an awkward silence.

"Rise-chan," Yu said, re the girl's attention. "Why did you become an idol in the first place," the silverhaired boy asked.

Rise was a bit caught off guard at the sudden question. "W-why do you want to know," Rise asked, not sure what to think of it.

"No real reason, just wondering what made you try the show biz," Yu said easily. Then Yu's face fell when Rise seemed a little... uncomfortable. "Sorry, just forget I asked," Yu said in an effort to ease Rise's worries.

"Oh! No, no," Rise said quickly, "It's just... No one has ever asked me that before," Rise admitted. In the idol industry, fans rarely care why someone went into it in the first place.

"Again, sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Yu said, feeling a little stupid for asking something that seems personal.

"Don't worry about it," Rise said cheerfully once again. "Saay..., how about we move somewhere else for now," Rise then asked, Yu agreed pretty fast.

 **(Dojima household. August 3rd. Evening)**

After a long day with Rise, Yu finally returned home.

"And where have you been?" asked Dojima, from his seat on the couch when Yu appeared. Him and Nanako were watching the TV. Yu was almost surprised to see the detective home on time.

"Hanging out with a friend," Yu replied easily.

"This late," Dojima asked skeptically.

Before Yu could reply, Nanako decided to pipe up. "Did you have fun with Rise-chan, big bro," Nanako asked happily, oblivious to her father's suspicions.

"Yes I did," Yu answered honestly. Truthfully, it was fun. Rise was asking to see some places in Inaba and Yu obliged gladly. All the while the two talked about this and that.

"Rise-chan? You mean the Kujikawa girl," Dojima connected the dots with a sigh. "Listen, I know that hanging out with a celebrity sounds cool, but do you think she needs that kind of attention?" Dojima almost sounded like he was lecturing Yu. The detective, wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for the many fans that surrounded the girl's house for the first few days.

"Uncle. Rise-chan isn't an idol anymore, besides she asked me to show her around Inaba," Yu said, understanding what his uncle was getting at.

"When were you an expert on the sights of Inaba," Dojima asked, but Yu could detect just a hint of teasing.

"Since never, and I told her as much," Yu admitted easily, refusing to fall for Dojima's trap.

"I see," Dojima said in slight disappointment, before donning a serious expression. "Just don't lead her along. Women do not appreciate men like that," Dojima said, earning a suspicious look from Yu.

"Are you speaking from experience," Yu asked teasingly, it was rare for him to get a chance to tease Dojima. The last time he got to do that was a subtle way of calling Dojima an old man.

"You could say that, considering there was a case of attempted murder, caused by something like that few years ago," Dojima said cryptically, before letting out a sigh.

"Is big bro in trouble," Nanako asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Dojima and Yu.

"No, Nanako. Where did you get that idea," Dojima asked his daughter with a reassuring look, before turning back to Yu. "Although..., I would appreciate if you at least asked for permission to party in this house," Dojima then said, before giving Yu a meaningful look, causing the silver haired boy to tense. "Well, nothing is broken, and you cleaned up after yourselves, so no harm done," the detective added before returning to the show he and Nanako were watching.

* * *

 **Translations:**

Ou! Nöyryytys = **Ow! Humiliation**

Mikä hänelle tuli= **What came up with her?(Not the best translation, but that's the literal one)**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

 **AN: This one is a little shorter than my previous ones, but I hope you still enjoy.**

 **Translations will be found at the bottom**

* * *

 **(Amagi Inn. August 6th. Morning)**

It has been a few days since Viljam and Yukiko had thrown the little make-shift party... Okay that sounds strange for some reason. Anyway, Viljam had just eaten breakfast, although he had to force it down, because he had lost his appetite. Yukiko and her mother noticed this and asked about it, but Viljam only said he was fine.

The truth is, Viljam was depressed, and he wasn't sure why... Oh who was he trying to fool, he knew damn well why he felt like this. It was because of the Mitsuo incident. More specifically, what happened when he and Yu were captured, among other things.

" _Tällä kertaa Chie pysäytti minut_ ," Viljam thought as he glanced at his left wrist for the umpteenth time that morning. The Finnish boy was currently laying on his couch in his home clothes, not willing to get up.

Then his phone started ringing. Viljam was tempted to ignore the call, but decided to answer anyway.

"Hello," Viljam sighed, without bothering to check the caller ID.

" _...You sound depressed,_ " said Yu from the other end of the line.

That made Viljam almost flinch... Then he questioned why it happened... Anyway, "No I'm not," Viljam said in a hurry, "Is something wrong?".

" _...Not wrong, Yosuke just asked me if I wanted to come to his house. I was wondering, if you'd like to come too,_ " Yu said, ignoring Viljam's weird behavior for now.

"Why would Yosuke invite you to his house? And why would I come," Viljam asked.

" _He was wondering if I'd like to try some games he has, then he made an off-handed comment about beating you, so I thought why not get you in on this too,_ " Yu replied.

"...*sigh* Sorry, but I don't feel like taking Yosuke down today," Viljam replied tiredly.

" _...Okay, Viljam. What's wrong,_ " Yu decided to ask.

"I don't want to talk about it," Viljam replied, not bothering to hide it.

" _Okay...,_ " Yu said from his end, surprising Viljam. " _..., but Teddie will also be there and I think he'll need someone to ruffle the basics of gaming into his fuzzy head,_ " Yu added in.

"...Nice try," Viljam deadpanned, realizing Yu's ploy.

The silverhaired boy sighed in his end of the line. " _Alright, maybe just beating new faces will get your mind off of whatever bothers you,_ " Yu said, earning a light chuckle from Viljam.

After one more moment of thinking, and a heavy sigh, Viljam gave his answer, "...What time?".

 **(Yosuke's house. August 6th. Daytime)**

Yu was regretting getting Viljam in on this. Why? Because the Finnish boy was royally screwing them. Not in a fighting game though.

"OH COME ON!" Yosuke shouted as Viljam snatched all of his stars, with the Finnish boy trying and failing to not laugh at the Junes boy's misery. Worst part about this is, Viljam was in the last place and Yosuke was in first place.

"...You sure he didn't cheat somehow," Kanji asked in suspicion. Kanji was also invited, making this a "guys' day". "Cause that was a bit too timely," the punk added. he was currently in second place though, so he wasn't all that worried.

"...I'm starting to wonder that myself," Yu said just as suspicious.

The reason the other guys were so skeptical, was because Viljam had some major streak of bad luck in this game. Then he pulled something like this out of nowhere.

"Looks like my luck has finally turned," Viljam said smugly.

Yosuke was giving the Finnish boy a death glare, he had done so well before and now, this guy just ruined everything.

"I'll show you," Yosuke said as it became his turn again. Unfortunately, all he got was a mini-game. The silver-lining in this one though is...

"O-Ou," Viljam said as he realized that it was three on one, with Viljam against everyone else.

"This is the divine punishment," Yosuke said with an evil smile.

"Go Yosuke," Teddie, who was in his costume, cheered from the side. The game could be played by four people at maximum, so the bear had to be left out from this one. Although he was cheering for anyone he felt like.

"I almost feel sorry for you," Yu said without any care for Viljam.

"Haista kukkanen," Was the Finnish boy's grumbled response.

 **(Marukyu shop( Rise's room). August 6th. Roughly the same time)**

" _This sucks,_ " Chie thought after realizing what Rise was planning with her and Yukiko.

"Come on, you can tell me," Rise said eagerly.

"It's none of your business! Why is that so hard to understand," Chie complained.

Earlier in the day, Rise had invited Chie and Yukiko for a "girls' day". Though neither of them would've come if they had known that Rise would be interrogating them about their non-existent love lives.

"Rise-chan, whatever Chie and Nousku-kun talked about was private. Please don't pry anymore," Yukiko added supportively.

"Yukiko you're not helping," Chie complained again.

"Now I'm just more curious," Rise said, Yukiko's words having an opposite effect of what the black haired girl intended.

"We're not prying into _your_ love life, so can you please drop it," Chie said, getting frustrated, "Or maybe we should tell you that Narukami-kun doesn't like idols," Chie added with a smirk.

"...Was I supposed to believe that?"

"What's not to believe? He hasn't heard about you before everyone at school started foaming about you," Chie said, thinking Rise was trying to be brave.

"*sigh* One of the downsides of being a celebrity, but I was actually happy that Yu-senpai hadn't heard of me," Rise said with a little sigh.

"...Is being a celebrity really that hard," Yukiko asked unsurely.

"Oh yes," Rise said, "Half of the things I said during interviews were practiced in advance.".

"Practiced? You mean, you don't say what you want to," Chie asked.

"...I wouldn't say that, but I had to stay under the 'guidelines' of my image," Rise said, doing air quotations as she spoke.

"...Wow, no wonder you got tired," Yukiko said, feeling some sympathy.

"...Did you have any stalkers," Chie asked, not sure if she should ask.

Rise let out a sigh, "Yes, but I got used to them.".

"Uhh... Sorry I asked," Chie said, but she was a little disturbed at the idea of someone being used to stalkers.

"It's fine," Rise said with a faint smile, "Enough about me. How about we talk about something a little more fun," the teen idol then suggested cheerfully.

At that the girls put on their metaphorical thinking caps. With Chie being grateful about the change of subject.

 **(Yosuke's house. August 6th. Few minutes later)**

The final round of the game has ended and it was time to announce the winner. The winner is, Kanji.

"At least, Viljam didn't win," Yosuke muttered in a much better mood.

"I said I'm sorry," Viljam said, though he felt cheated that Kanji was able to win due to tie breaker.

"Yosuke, Viljam got his ass handed to him, can you please let go already," Yu said, referring to the mini-game. As Yu stated, Viljam got his ass handed to him when Yu and Yosuke started to use some kind of telepathic communication to trap him. Or that's what Viljam called their flawless teamwork.

"He still came second," Yosuke said, still sour about Viljam stealing his lead.

"So it's not important that you win, it's that I lose," Viljam asked.

"...That doesn't make sense," Yosuke said.

"Come on, Yosuke," Teddie piped up, "It means that it's not important that you win, it's that your most hated enemy doesn't."

"...That's pretty deep," Yu said after a moment of thought.

"I still won," Kanji said satisfied at his victory.

"Good for you," Viljam said, not too bothered anymore, "So... another one," Viljam then asked.

"No thanks," Yosuke said, "I'm gonna get some snacks, you guys want any?".

"YAAYYYY!" Teddie cheered instantly, before running out of the room.

"HEY! Get back here Ted," Yosuke shouted, before running after the blonde boy before before he devoured all the snacks.

"You're not eating everything!" Kanji added in before running off too to save at least some of the snacks.

"Should we go before they start a world war 3," Viljam asked Yu.

"World war 3?"

"That's what I sometimes call the fights between me and my sisters," Viljam clarified in amusement.

"Sure," Yu said with an amused eyeroll, before donning a serious expression, "What did you see in there?"

"What?"

Yu sighed. "Back when Mitsuo's shadow caught us, what did you see," Yu asked again, even though he knew he probably shouldn't.

"See? N-no I was unconcious," Viljam said nervously.

"You stuttered," Yu pointed out.

"I saw nothing," Viljam said more firmly, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

It wasn't that Yu wanted to pry, but if what Viljam saw was anything like what the silver haired boy saw, that could have lasting effects on the Finnish boy. However, he cannot force Viljam into talking about it, but..., "...During my capture I saw us all drifting apart," Yu admitted what he saw.

That earned Viljam's attention.

Seeing that the Finnish boy wouldn't talk yet, Yu decided to continue, "In that... nightmare, we never held that celebration, because everyone had things to do. Teddie returned to the TV world, and we didn't hear from him again. Rise moved out of town, and she changed her number so we couldn't call her. Satonaka-san and Amagi-san were spending their time together normally, but...," Yu had to pause as his gaze turned away from Viljam, because in his nightmare, the two looked happier without him around.

"...You all got tired of me," Viljam said, causing Yu to redirect his gaze at the Finnish boy. "It started with you guys just always having other things to do... Then you outright avoided me. Finally I... overheard you guys saying... bad things about me," Viljam's voice cracked at the last few words.

"... Why do you think we'd get tired of you," Yu decided to ask.

"...Because I'm me," Viljam said unsurely.

"That's not a reason," Yu said crossing his arms half-heartedly.

"*sigh* Remember when I accepted my shadow," Viljam asked, not wanting to reveal that but felt like he had to.

"Yes, you said something, none of us could understand," Yu said going all ears.

"Well... I said: No one cares about me, I'm defective, worthless and in every way beneath my sisters," Viljam said, letting out a tear.

"You don't have to continue," Yu said, thinking he had overstepped his bounds.

"No, no, it's fine," Viljam sniffed before wiping the lone tear away. "It's just, because of my asthma and learning disorder I always considered myself less than they are. There was a time that it got to the point where I almost believed it would be better if I disappeared," Viljam finished with a heavy sigh.

"So you thought that no one can like you because of your flaws," Yu summarized.

"Yes."

"You're fine as you are. I mean, haven't you contacted your family regularly and haven't they always been there," Yu asked.

"All except Maria," Viljam said with a sigh.

That surprised Yu a little, "Your big sister?".

"Yeah, she has been studying out of town since before I started high school. Now she's probably still at her summer job, so she doesn't stay home much," Viljam explained.

"I see," Yu said, "Anyway, back to the previous topic, I doubt any of us can find a reason to hate you... Except maybe Yosuke," the silverhaired boy said with a chuckle.

"I still don't know if Chie-san can like me," Viljam muttered absent-mindedly.

"Oh?" Was the only response Yu could think of at what Viljam just blurted, before the silver haired boy donned an evil smile, "Do you _want_ her to like you?".

Viljam's eyes widened in horror at realizing what just slipped. "NO! I don't want to like her- I mean I don't want her to l-li- LOPETA!" Viljam cried out with a furious blush, because anything he wanted to say sounded stupid in his head.

"What's going on," asked Yosuke from the doorway, causing Viljam to nearly jump out of his skin(figuratively of course).

"EI MITÄÄN!"

"Dude, what's with you," Yosuke asked with a weirded out look.

"Ei mikään," Viljam said quickly, trying to breath evenly.

"...I don't speak Finnish," Yosuke said, getting annoyed.

"Sorry, I said nothing," Viljam finally corrected himself.

"Didn't look like nothing," Yosuke said with a skeptical look, causing Viljam to feel extremely nervous.

"He just said that you suck at games," Yu supplied (un)helpfully.

Yosuke's eye twitched. "Oh really," the Junes boy said serenely.

"...sorry," Viljam said, fearing for his life.

"I was going to ask if you wanted some topsicles, but I guess Teddie gets to eat them all," Yosuke said with an evil smile, causing a look of horror to appear on Viljam's face. "I'm gonna tell Ted that you won't need any," Yosuke said evilly, before moving to do just that.

After Yosuke got out of hearing range, Yu directed an apologetic look towards Viljam. "Sorry, Viljam. I couldn't figure out anything better," Yu said before moving out.

" _Eräänä kauniina päivänä tuo jujuttaja katuu tätä,_ " Viljam thought bitterly, before he realized a certain something about that thought. " _Yu... Juu ... Yuu juu se jujuttaa,_ " Viljam thought, before bursting into laughter at the new joke that came from one simple thought.

 **(Rise's house. August 6th. later)**

"We're sorry," Rise said, hanging her head in shame.

"sorry." Yukiko and Chie also apologized in unison.

What were they apologizing about? At some point earlier, Yukiko had mentioned her cooking practices. From there it escalated on them trying to make a tofu dish together. The result was a disaster.

"Rise-chan, I don't know how you managed to make tofu explode," Rise's grandmother said with a stern tone as she eyed the three girls. "But I do know who will be cleaning this," the old lady said, while motioning towards the destroyed kitchen. Okay, maybe destroyed is a strong word, but the three somehow managed to make tofu stain the kitchen.

"Yes." the three said without question.

With that came the tedious job of cleaning every nook and cranny of the slimy mess that used to be tofu. How did the girls manage to turn solid tofu into unidentifiable slime? Not even they knew.

"Why did I agree to this," Chie complained as she wiped a portion of the kitchen wall with a rag.

"Because we caused this," Yukiko said in monotone, wiping the kitchen counter.

"No, I meant why I agreed to try cooking again," Chie corrected in annoyance.

Rise tried to look innocent, as she scrubbed the floor. She had been the one to propose the idea, but it was Yukiko who managed to convince Chie into this.

"I'm sorry Chie," Yukiko said sadly, as she went to rinse the rag.

"No, I'm sorry," Rise butted in, as she got up to also rinse her rag. "This was my idea," the teen idol sighed.

"Why are the guys so much better at cooking," Chie complained.

"Nousku-kun did mention that he and his sisters helped their mother in the kitchen," Yukiko said, with some lament, "And Narukami-kun did mention that he knew how to cook.".

"Urrgghh," Chie growled at being reminded.

"But Yu-senpai did most of the cooking," Rise reminded them, trying to lighten their moods somewhat.

This earned Rise some confused looks. "What?" Chie asked.

"Well... Yu-senpai did most of the cooking on the omelette," Rise said, unsure why the two were confused.

Yukiko looked at Rise blankly, before she realized something. "Oh right, we didn't tell you, Nousku-kun cooked the meal for Chie's birthday," Yukiko said, remembering not mentioning that part.

"YUKIKO!" Chie cried out, not wanting the red haired girl to get any ideas.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Rise cooed, even as she returned to scrubbing the floor again.

"...None of your business," Chie said angrily.

'You know, I can't help but ask, why're you so against liking him?' Is what Rise wanted to say, but decided not to risk angering Chie anymore. Instead she decided to ask something less important, "Yukiko-senpai, why does Nousku-senpai call you by your first name, but you don't call him by first name," Rise asked, wondering why Viljam gets to do that, but Yukiko doesn't do the same.

Yukiko blushed at the question, "...Because I've never called a boy by his first name," Yukiko said in embarrassment, "Also... his first name is a little hard to pronounce."

"Tell me about it," Chie said, glad for the change of subject, "I still wonder how Hanamura and Narukami-kun learned to say it."

"Biruyam," Rise tried to say Viljam's name, "...Yeah, it's hard."

That earned small giggles, before the girls resumed cleaning.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 6th. Evening)**

Yukiko was curently checking a cook book she had bought on her way home. She almost felt discouraged about cooking, but then she noticed the cook book in the bookstore back in the shopping district and decided to buy it.

As she had gotten back, she noticed that Viljam was noticeably in better mood. Whatever was bothering him seemed to have gone.

Then Yukiko's phone started ringing. The black haired girl picked up her phone and answered.

"Hello," Yukiko greeted.

" _Hey, Yukiko. Do you have moment,_ " asked Chie from her end of the line.

Yukiko raised an eyebrow, not at the question, but because Chie sounded off somehow. "Sure, I wasn't doing anything," Yukiko said. Not entirely true, but nothing important enough to not talk to Chie.

" _...Uhhh...,_ " Chie sounded, confusing Yukiko a little. " _Nevermind, sorry to bother you,_ " Chie said, before hanging up, leaving Yukiko even more confused.

"What was that about," Yukiko wondered aloud.

 **(Chie's house)**

Chie was currently laying on her bed and was berating herself for bothering Yukiko

" _What was I thinking,_ " Chie thought, while face palming. " _Yukiko is the last person I can talk to about this,_ " the kung fu loving girl thought. Actually, come to think of it, what was she even going to say? She lost any train of thought the moment Yukiko talked.

The thing is, what Chie blurted to Viljam came back to haunt her. And she did such a good job in forgetting it. Rise's interrogation helped bringing it back to her mind.

Not only that, but she couldn't get her hugging him out of her mind. "Dammit, when did I start feeling like this," Chie grumbled.

Chie tried to think back, trying to pinpoint the moment she started to feel like this about Viljam. Unfortunately, she couldn't pinpoint that moment. But she was sure it wasn't love at first sight.

But the real issue was, does Viljam feel the same way. Well, he doesn't seem to mind being around her at least. He does like meat as much as she does. He enjoys action movies like her, although he did voice a few complaints about one of her favorite movies, but only about things Chie can understand.

He also knows how to cook steak. At the last one, Chie couldn't help blushing as she remembered what she blurted out because of it. "Urgh," the green clad girl groaned as she turned to her side in her bed. "Of all the stupid...," Chie muttered again. "If Hanamura finds out about this, I'm never going to hear the end of it," the green clad girl grumbled.

And that reminded her of what that idiot said, " _He's the best you'll ever get._ ". Of course, Yosuke never finished that sentence, because of Chie's hands on his throat. That phrase still stung a little. "I can do better," Chie said to herself, but she couldn't believe her own words. Is there even someone better?

 **(Dojima Household. August 6th. Roughly the same time)**

Yu was currently sitting on his couch, having a phone conversation that took a direction he never thought could happen.

"Listen," Yu said to his phone. "Emotions don't work like that. You can't tell yourself to just stop feeling," the silver haired boy said, earning a sigh from the other end.

" _...I knew it was too much to ask, but I had to try,_ " Viljam said from his end. " _But..., ignoring that, it can't work...,_ " the Finnish boy added, unable to Finish that sentence.

"And why not," Yu asked, although he could guess what the answer will be.

" _First, even if I told her I doubt she would feel the same. Second, even if she did... I have to return home in spring,_ " Viljam said sadly.

"I see," Yu said, unable to argue with Viljam's logic, "But does that mean you shouldn't try?".

" _...It's easier to give up than trying in vain,_ " Viljam said.

"Trying in vain," Yu questioned.

" _It's something I learned,_ " Viljam said, " _It's better to give up, instead of trying something that can't work out,_ " the Finnish boy said.

Yu felt those words hit home. Or they did on how he used to think about interacting with people. Now however, "That sounds like an excuse to run away."

" _What?_ "

"You heard me. If you don't try anything, doesn't that mean you never really lived. I never tried to interact with people, seeing it as a waste of time, but then I met you guys," Yu said, feeling like this was the only thing that could get Viljam out of his depressing view on things. "Besides, didn't you try learning Japanese and come here. Tell me, was that in vain," the silver haired boy challenged Viljam.

" _...We're done here,_ " Viljam said with an underlying tone of anger, before hanging up on Yu.

Yu was about to berate himself of his actions, before he felt the familiar sensation of a Social Link progress.

"How?" Yu couldn't help but wonder. It sounded like Viljam was angry at him, but the link progressed anyway. He'd have to pay a visit to the Velvet Room tomorrow.

* * *

 **AN: To those of you who wonder, the difficulty that comes from pronouncing Viljam's name comes from the fact that Japanese don't have a V pronounciation. Japanese also have a very short R, which means they need to learn the difference between L and R when studying say... English.**

 **Translations:**

 _Tällä kertaa Chie pysäytti minut=_ **This time Chie stopped me**

Haista kukkanen= **Smell a flower (a relatively tame exclamation)**

 _Eräänä kauniina päivänä tuo jujuttaja katuu tätä =_ **One beautiful day that trickster will regret this**

 _Yu... Juu ... Yuu juu se jujuttaa=_ **(Note: Yu and Juu are spelled the same way) Yu... Yeah... Yuu yeah it dupes**


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

 **AN: Sorry if I took long, but this chapter was a... bit of a headache. For the longest time it felt like it was missing something. But that's all over for now.**

* * *

 **(Velvet room. August 7th. Daytime)**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted Yu, "How may I be of assistance?".

Yu had a sneaking suspicion that Igor already knew what he was going to ask, but he decided to ask anyway. "How did my Social Link with Viljam progress, despite angering him," Yu asked.

Igor chuckled at the question, "Whatever do you mean, dear guest? Your bond with the second priestess progressed, because you deepened your bond with him.".

Yu sighed. Of course Igor had to be cryptic. "I meant, he sounded angry when I progressed. Doesn't that mean it should've been hindered," Yu clarified his question.

This time it was Margaret who answered. "Not all bonds are deepened through positive emotions. Sometimes, it takes a fight to forge bonds," Margaret said with that smile that said she knew more than let on.

"Indeed," Igor chimed in.

"I don't understand," Yu said.

"That is fine," Igor said dismissively, "Perhaps you undersand soon enough.".

"Was there anything else," Margaret asked.

"...No," Yu said, before leaving.

 **(Inaba Shopping district. August 7th. Daytime)**

" _What the heck did Igor mean,_ " Yu couldn't help but wonder in thought. Nevermind, that they never really answered, but how could he understand what Viljam was even thinking.

"Hey! Yu-san!" Yu heard someone calling him. The silver haired boy turned to the source.

" _Speak of the devil,_ " Yu couldn't help but think as he saw Viljam jogging towards him.

"Do you have a moment," Viljam asked. Then the Finnish boy looked around as if to make sure no one was around. The shopping district didn't have many people moving about right now, so why was Viljam wary.

"Sure," Yu shrugged, noticing that Viljam didn't seem angry or anything.

"First, sorry about hanging up like that," Viljam said, surprising Yu a little. "You were right, when I started studying Japanese and then applied for the exchange program, it wasn't in vain," Viljam said. Then he let out a heavy sigh, "You know, my dad has been drilling the same thing in my head for years, but only now I think I can believe it.".

"Why couldn't you believe it before," Yu asked, getting curious.

"Because I thought he was telling me that out of obligation," Viljam said, while looking away, "I know it sounds stupid, but I kept telling myself that for so long that I believed it.".

"And now?"

Viljam smiled, "Now... I... How do I tell..." Viljam's speech turned into incomprehensible mumble.

"I can't help you with that," Yu said, knowing what Viljam was talking about.

"What," Viljam asked in shock. "I thought you're smart," Viljam said almost accusingly.

"Being smart doesn't mean I can tell what girls think. Speaking of which, shouldn't you know more about the subject than me," Yu pointed out, referring to the fact that Viljam grew up with two girls.

The Finnish boy's response was a dead pan look. "Growing up in female dominated house doesn't make me an expert on dating," Viljam retorted.

"...Good point," Yu admitted. "Also when did you start thinking about dating," Yu couldn't help but ask.

Viljam was about to retort, but he took a few deep breaths to keep himself from snapping. "Since... I considered the possibility," the Finnish boy said. "Even if the probability is tiny," Viljam admitted.

Yu nodded, satisfied at the answer. "If nothing else, then at least you don't have to worry about the what if," Yu said.

"...yeah," Viljam sighed. "Anyway, are you going to see Rise-san," Viljam asked, causing Yu to raise an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that," Yu asked unaffected by the question.

"Because her place is right there," Viljam said, pointing at the shop, which was just a few meters away.

"I just came here on some business," Yu said, not wanting to tell about the Velvet Room. It's kinda funny that the door is still floating right next to them, but only Yu can see it. Come to think of it, whenever Yu enters the room, what happens to his body? Does he enter the room physically? Or since the place supposedly exists between dream and reality, does he go into some sort of trance. If the latter theory is true, then how come no one has given him at least weird looks.

"What kind of business," Viljam asked, cutting Yu's current train of thought

"...Well what're you doing here," Yu tried to turn this on Viljam.

At that, Viljam had a look of realization. " Oh right! Chie-san asked me to hang out," Viljam said in remembrance, " We're supposed to meet at Souzai.".

"I see," Yu resisted a sigh of relief at seeing Viljam forgetting his line of questioning. "Are you going to tell her how you feel," the silver haired boy decided to ask.

"...I don't know," Viljam said unsurely, "I don't think I can just go there and say it.".

"That's good," Yu said with a smile, earning a confused look from Viljam. "Going in there and just saying 'Hey, I like you let's date' rarely works," the silver haired boy said, chuckling a little.

"When you put it that way, yeah it's stupid," Viljam agreed with a chuckle, before donning a serious expression, "Then, what am I supposed to do?".

Yu looked thoughtful for a moment, "Unfortunately, there's no fool proof answer to that. I guess all you can do is read the mood.".

The Finnish boy visibly deflated at the response.

"Sorry that I can't give you a better answer, but a relationship isn't something that can be explained with logic," Yu said apologetically, all that did was earn him a sigh. "Look, just don't think too much, just go there and be yourself, the confession can come at another day," Yu tried again.

That seemed to work. "I can do that. Thanks, I should probably go now," Viljam said, slightly worried about making Chie wait too long.

"Alright, have fun," Yu said, and with that, Viljam left. Yu shook his head a little. "I hope I didn't do anything stupid," Yu said wondering if he could've done more. It's not like he could've given any definite answer, but Yu couldn't help but feel that he could've done something different. Come to think of it, would they even make a good couple? Chie likes Kung Fu, is overall strong, tomboyish and she can really eat meat. Viljam is... well he's not athletic, loves video games and is easily frightened. Then again, Viljam seems to like action movies too. Not as much as Chie, but still. Well, if they have some common ground then, that's good to build on.

On to another matter, Yu glanced at the tofu shop, wondering if Rise was home. Should he go see her?

.

.

.

" _Might as well, since I'm already here,_ " Yu mentally shrugged before he started towards the shop.

 **(Souzai Daigaku. August 7th. Daytime)**

Viljam and Chie we're sitting and talking at Souzai Daigaku. The situation would've been better if Muku wasn't around. Yup, Chie had taken her dog with her. Apparently, she had been forgetting to take the dog for a walk this week, so she had no choice but to take him with her.

Viljam did his best to ignore the dog staring at him, but something about the way the large canine was staring at him rang the warning bells.

".-and mom got so angry about it," Chie finished telling Viljam about the first few days she had Muku. When Muku was brought into the house, Chie was made responsible for training and other things in taking care of the dog. It wasn't easy at first, especially when the dog was very active as a pup.

"Auts," Viljam winced in sympathy, "So..., how did you even convince your parents to get a dog in the first place," Viljam asked, wondering how Chie was able to convince her parents.

Chie opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it back up. "I don't think you wanna hear it," Chie said, waving her hand dismissively.

"I do now," Viljam said, looking at her expectantly.

Chie looked between Viljam and Muku. The dog only tilted his head, wondering what was going on. Then Chie sighed a little. "The thing is, Muku is what brought me and Yukiko together," Chie began, earning wide eyes from Viljam.

"How so?"

Chie sighed, before deciding to tell Viljam the story. About how on a rainy day, Chie saw a black haired girl who was sitting down looking depressed with a puppy in her arms. Chie asked what was wrong, and the girl told Chie about how she found the puppy, but the girl's parents refused to keep it and told her to get rid of it. In response the girl ran from home with the puppy. Chie made some funny faces to cheer the girl up. They talked a little and Chie promised to at least try to get Muku a home.

"-then I took Muku home and managed to convince my parents to keep him," Chie finished telling the tale.

"And that's how you and Yukiko met," Viljam said, looking impressed. Then he glanced at the big dog that used to be a cute little puppy. "So Muku is basically the dog of friendship," Viljam said, laughing a little.

Chie also laughed at how silly that sounded. "I guess he is," Chie said, while scratching the said dog behind the floppy ears.

"...I'm jealous of you two," Viljam said, earning a curious look from Chie.

"Huh?"

"You and Yukiko," Viljam clarified. "You're the textbook definition of best friends. Something I never had," Viljam said with a sigh.

"You didn't have friends back home," Chie asked in slight wonder.

"No..., I never fit in," Viljam said. "I felt like I had no one outside of my family. There were some that I talked to, but they were just people I saw in school," the Finnish boy continued.

"Didn't you ever spend time with anyone outside of school," Chie asked, not wanting to believe that Viljam didn't have any friends at all.

"Sometimes, but after a while I stopped seeing them," Viljam said. "I got the feeling that they were barely tolerating me," the Finnish boy said, while letting out a heavy sigh.

"Are you sure they thought that," Chie asked, wondering if he was just making an excuse.

"Yeah.".

"I see," Chie said, not knowing what else to say. "Well, we won't get tired of you," Chie said cheerfully.

"Thanks," Viljam said, before chuckling, "Except Yosuke might hate me now.".

"What!? What the hell is his problem," Chie said in a mixture of anger and annoyance, thinking about giving the Junes boy a piece of her mind later.

"Yesterday, me and the guys played a party game, and I stole Yosuke's lead," Viljam said proudly.

"...Really?" Chie was more amazed at Yosuke getting angry about something so petty as Viljam beating him. Not that she had much to brag about considering the time she scared Viljam half to death.

"That's not the worst part... Well, worst for him. I was in the last place and I knocked him down to last place," Viljam said laughing at the memory.

Okay, now Chie understood why Yosuke got angry, but that doesn't mean it isn't funny. "Nice," Chie couldn't help but chuckle.

Viljam then frowned. "And then Yu-san told Yosuke that I said he sucked at games," Viljam said, feeling sour all over again.

Chie frowned a little. "That doesn't sound like Narukami-kun," Chie said, not quite believing Viljam.

"He might've gotten annoyed that I stole the lead like that," Viljam lied... Actually, maybe Yu did do it just to spite him. The leader of the Investigation team could've come up with a better cover than that.

"Uhhuh," Chie still didn't sound convinced.

"Well, doesn't really matter now," Viljam shrugged, but he was still planning to get back at him somehow.

At that moment, Muku decided to bark again to gain their attention.

"...Does Muku bite, if I scratch him," Viljam asked.

Chie gave Viljam a dead pan look, "Muku wouldn't hurt a fly."

The Finnish boy wasn't exactly encouaged, but he still tried to reach out to Muku, who didn't react to the approach. And then he scracthed the dogs head.

Chie couldn't help but shake her head at Viljam's fear of dogs. She was still convinced that the Finnish boy was exagerating about the dogs in his neghbourhood back in Finland wanting to eat him.

 **(Okina City. August 7th. Daytime)**

Yu almost regretted in agreeing to go to Okina City with Rise. No! He _is_ regretting it. Why? Because they were currently clothes shopping. That in itself wouldn't be so bad, if...

"How about this one Yu-senpai," Rise asked taking out another swimsuit from the hangers.

"I don't know... I think that's a little much," Yu said hiding his nervousness, though what he was thinking was, " _Is that even legal?_ ".

The swimsuit in question had too little fabric to be considered decent to most people.

"Yeah, you're right," Rise said, putting it back.

"Why are you shopping for swimsuits again," Yu asked. Rise did say why, but for some reason it felt like there was an ulterior motive.

"Because I want to be ready for when we go to that beach trip," Rise said happily.

" _Oh right that,_ " Yu thought, still..., "Have you started studying for the license yet," the silver haired boy decided to ask.

"Oh yes," Rise said happily. "I should have my license by next week end," the auburn haired girl added cheerily. Then Rise checked another swimsuit this time a one piece.

" _Phew,_ " Yu thought. Up until now, Rise had checked swimsuits that were... scandalous, to say the least. " _If she's trying to get a reaction out of me... It's working,_ " Yu thought in distress. Yu didn't show it outwards, but Rise's choices so far had a very blush inducing effect. Especially, when he couldn't help but gain a mental image of Rise wearing some of them. He might be polite to ladies, but that doesn't mean he doesn't experience certain thought patterns. He just does the smart thing, and keeps it to himself.

Worst part is, Rise actually offered to try some of them on. It took every ounce of willpower for Yu to tell her that wouldn't be a good idea. Not that Rise could tell through his increasingly-hard-to-maintain poker face.

"Hmm...," Rise hummed as she eyed the one piece critically. "Nah, too boring," Rise said before putting it back.

" _This must be karma for pulling that lie on Viljam,_ " Yu tried to rationalize what was happening.

"This one!" Was the exclamation that cut Yu's train of thought.

The silver haired boy braced himself for another attempt to pull his mind into the gutter. Except, Rise was holding whatever she picked in a way that didn't allow Yu to see it. "What is it," Yu asked, even though he knew he was going to regret it.

"Oh are you that eager to see me wearing it senpai," Rise teased, confirming Yu's fears. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait until the trip," Rise said cheekily.

" _I... walked right into that one,_ " Yu mentally sighed. "Alright then," Yu said, but couldn't hide his exasperation anymore.

Rise picked up on this. "I'm not being a nuisance, right," Rise asked Yu, sounding serious for once.

"No you're not," Yu lied. Although at this point, nuisance was an understatement.

Unfortunately Yu forgot something, if you want a lie to sound convincing, you must be able to look the person you're lying to in the eye. "Please be honest with me," Rise said, worrying.

"I am," Yu tried again, but judging by the look on Rise's face, she wasn't buying it. Yu finally sighed, "Fine, I'm convinced that you're intentionally bullying me.".

"What? How," Rise asked, slightly shocked.

"The swimsuits you picked were clearly designed to... I'm not going to say what," Yu said, not wanting to say more.

Instead of getting angry, Rise looked apologetic. "Sorry," Rise apologized realizing Yu was holding back on what he said. "I thought some harmless teasing wouldn't be bad. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable," Rise said sincerely.

"Harmless? I'm sorry Rise-chan, but most guys would've probably already tried something," Yu said, not sure if he was annoyed or angry. Maybe both.

"What!?" Rise almost screeched, taking offense at the sentence. "I was not that bad," Rise argued.

"You could've fooled me," Yu argued back.

Rise was going to say something else, until she noticed something. People were starting to stare at them. Rise's previous exclamation must've gained their attention. That's not good. Making a scene aside, there may be Risette fans among them. Something she did not want to face today. "Let's just leave," Rise said, before moving to the cashier quickly.

 **(Inaba Shopping district. August 7th. Few hours later)**

The return trip to Inaba was a little awkward for both of them. Yu felt bad for saying those things to Rise, but he couldn't just apologize because he was right. If Rise does something like that recklessly something bad is bound to happen.

Rise didn't feel much better. The truth was, her checking those scandalous swimsuit had an ulterior motive. She wanted to see how eager Yu would be to see her in one of those. But even after she actually offered to try one on, he said no. Now the plan has backfired spectacularly, because Rise didn't realize how uncomfortable she was making him. He still didn't have to say what he did.

Now the two had reached Rise's house. Although Rise told Yu that he could go home if he wanted, but Yu said he could see her home at least.

"Well, bye then," Yu said simply before he started walking off.

Rise was about to enter her house, but she stopped to look at Yu's direction. "Yu-senpai, wait," Rise called after the silver haired boy.

"What is it," Yu asked, clearly not thrilled, but he wasn't angry.

"...I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable," Rise apologized. The teen idol wasn't sure if she's the one who's supposed to apologize, but she just wanted to stop this fight as soon as possible. "I probably shouldn't have done what I did," she added.

Yu was honestly surprised that Rise apologized. He thought Rise would expect him to come back and beg for forgiveness later. "...Look, it's not just that I felt uncomfortable. I just worry you might do something like that to a wrong guy," Yu admitted.

Rise frowned at the words, but she also saw Yu's point. Teasing guys is a dangerous game, and you know what they say about fun and games until someone gets hurt. "Alright, I'll stop it. Or at least tone it down," Rise said carefully, but she did know she wasn't doing anything like that anytime soon. Maybe if the two actually dated she might try again, but that's a thought for another day.

"That's all I ask. And I'm sorry too," Yu said. He was still mildly annoyed about Rise teasing him, but at least she stops.

"...Next time I'm being a nuisance, just say it," Rise said in a relieved tone, earning a chuckle from Yu.

"All right, if it avoids another fight," Yu said with a smile.

The two exchanged farewells and went to their homes.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 7th. Evening)**

Yukiko was mildly puzzled. Viljam seemed more happy when he came back. Today was a pretty slow day so Yukiko had been occupying herself with studying for the motorcycle license. She would've asked Viljam to study with her, but found out from Kasai that he had gone out.

Anyway, when Yukiko asked Viljam what happened, he just said that he felt happy, puzzling Yukiko further.

Now, Yukiko had appeared in front of Viljam's room, and she knocked.

"Yes?" Came from the room, and Yukiko took that as her cue to enter.

"Sorry to disturb you, Nousku-kun," Yukiko said politely, "But I was thinking, maybe we should start studying for those motorcycle licenses.".

"Now?" was the puzzled response from Viljam.

"No, tomorrow," Yukiko corrected.

Viljam almost sighed. "I guess we should," the Finnish boy said a with little to no enthusiasm.

"You don't sound very excited," Yukiko said.

"I'm honestly not interested," Viljam admitted, earning a skeptical look from Yukiko. "Okay, I had that phase when I was little, but then I realized it would be too much work," Viljam admitted.

"How about I cook something sweet if you pass," Yukiko suggested.

If the one making the suggestion had been Linnea, Viljam would've been on board. But this is Yukiko so..., "No need for that, I can make something myself if I feel like it," Viljam said quickly, not wanting to taste the highly toxic waste Yukiko calls her cooking. Not that Viljam could _ever_ say that aloud.

Yukiko just smiled at her guest brother, completely missing his trepidation. "So you will study tomorrow," Yukiko said, wanting to make sure.

"Yeah." Was the simple answer.

"Great!" Yukiko said happily. "Oh! Maybe we should ask Chie and Rise-chan too," Yukiko said in thought.

"I'm okay with Chie-san, but do we have to call Rise-san too," Viljam asked.

"Why not? Is there something wrong with her," Yukiko asked, in slight suspicion.

"No..., it's just...," Viljam trailed off looking embarrassed.

Yukiko waited for Viljam to speak up, but then the light bulb went off in her head. "Is it because of her shadow," Yukiko asked.

"TÄH!?" Viljam exclaimed with a look that said "What the heck!?".

"Are you scared she might be like that," Yukiko asked with a gentle look. "I'm sure she's not like-".

"THAT WAS WEEKS AGO!" Viljam shouted, causing Yukiko to jump. "Sorry," Viljam said while trying compose himself. "It's just..., three girls and one guy. You see anything odd with that," Viljam explained, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh." Was Yukiko's intelligent response as she blushed at her mistake. "Sorry, but how would one more girl make a difference," Yukiko asked. "I mean, you've spent time with two girls nearly all your life," she added.

Viljam gave a dead pan look. "The two girls in question are my sisters, your argument is invalid," Viljam said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, earning question marks from Yukiko.

"I don't understand. You're comfortable enough with Chie and I," Yukiko said, trying to figure out the problem.

"You're my host sister and Chie is...," Viljam trailed off as he tried to come up with a counter argument. "...Chie," Viljam said with little confidence.

For a moment Yukiko's head ran empty on the answer, before it clicked."Oh..., I see," Yukiko said with a look of realization.

"What?"

"See you tomorrow, good night," Yukiko said with a smile, before leaving the room faster than Viljam could demand answers.

As Viljam was left wondering what the heck happened, Yukiko released a giggle. "Chie, you've done it now," Yukiko muttered between giggles. As far as Yukiko knew, Viljam didn't have much interest in girls, despite him calling Chie cute from time to time. And ignoring Yosuke's attempts to corrupt him, he still doesn't really talk about that kind of stuff. Then again, that's probably not something he would talk to girls about.

" _I still can't leave Rise-chan out of this_ ," Yukiko thought. After all, if Rise needed help with anything, it would be easier if she studied with them. Viljam could probably study on his own, but considering his initial motivation has diminished, Yukiko didn't trust him to do it on his own.

Oh well, that was something to wonder tomorrow.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 8th. Daytime)**

As Yukiko had planned, Rise, Chie and Viljam were studying for their licenses together in Yukiko's room. Despite his words yesterday, Viljam didn't seem to mind Rise's presence.

If only she knew...

"Aside from driving the left side of the road, everything seems easy," Viljam said skeptically. The Finnish boy felt that the learning material for a motorcycle license would be a little harder than this.

"That's how it's always been here," Rise said, knowing that outside Japan, most people drive on the right side of the road.

"Yes, but I wonder where the logic comes from," Viljam wondered aloud. Considering most of the European countries drive on the right side of the road, Viljam found Japans roadside strange. Although he knew for a fact that people also drive on the left side in England.

"Where does the logic on the right side come from," Chie couldn't help but ask.

"...Good question." Was the most intelligent response Viljam could think of.

Yukiko suddenly looked thoughtful, " Just remembering but, even if Nousku-kun does get a license, where does he get a scooter from?".

That was a question they should've probably addressed sooner.

"Well..., I checked with my cousin, turns out he has a scooter I can borrow and an older one in his garage that he doesn't use anymore," Chie said helpfully.

"Why doesn't he use it? Is it broken," Rise asked a little worried.

"No it's just... not cool anymore in his words," Chie said with a shrug.

"*snrk* Not cool," Viljam repeated, clearly amused.

"You're going to ride it you know," Chie retorted with a smirk.

"...Am I?" The question was curious not incredulous.

"Well, yeah," Chie said, a little disappointed that she couldn't get a rise out of him.

"If you're going to join us on the beach trip, then you have to take what you can," Yukiko added in.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Viljam shrugged as he checked an entry on avoiding traffic accidents on a motorcycle.

"Say...," Rise started slyly. "Who're you looking forward to seeing in a swimsuit," the teen idol asked, earning everyone's attention.

"...Did Yosuke put you up to this," Viljam deadpanned.

"Nope, I'm just curious," Rise replied easily, "So, who is it?".

"N-no one," Viljam said nervously.

"Oohh, so there is someone," Rise said, earning a shocked look from the Finnish boy. "It's written all over your face," Rise answered the unasked question.

"Rise-chan, please leave him alone," Chie said, feeling a headache coming in.

"Oh come on aren't you interested," Rise asked innocently.

Yukiko let out a sigh, "Rise-chan, Nousku-kun is barely comfortable with the subject, please stop it.". Viljam was nodding rapidly in agreement to Yukiko's words.

"But what if he wants to see either of you two, or both," Rise said slyly, earning an embarrassed blush from Chie, and a scowl from Viljam. "Maybe it's me," Rise said jokingly.

"No thanks, you'll give me nightmares," Viljam said without thinking.

Rise sighed at the comment. "Aww that's too-WHAT!?" Rise screeched after realizing fully what Viljam said.

Viljam clamped his hand over his mouth at his mistake, but the damage was already done.

"Did you just call me ugly," Rise asked in a tone that promised unspeakable horrors if he said something wrong.

"...no," Viljam said with little confidence, causing Rise's glare to intensify.

"Nousku-kun, RUN!" Yukiko shouted quickly, and Viljam couldn't have possibly moved faster out of the room.

Rise was about to sprint after him, but Chie grabbed the furious girl and wrestled her down to keep her from harming the Finnish boy.

"LET GO!" Rise shouted, trying to struggle in vain.

"Not until you hear us out," Chie said, not wanting Rise to hurt Viljam. Sure Viljam might have it coming for letting out something like that, but Chie was worried that Rise might do something that they'll all regret.

"Why are you defending him!?" Rise almost cried. She was just called ugly and these two were on the offender's side.

"Look, it's not really you that gives him nightmares," Yukiko explained, hoping to calm Rise down somewhat.

Rise stopped struggling after hearing those words. "Explain." Was the only phrase the currently downed teen idol said.

" _Nousku-kun is going to hate us for this,_ " Yukiko thought, but the alternative was a potentially permanent hatred from Rise. So Yukiko started explaining about the nightmares Viljam had about Rise's shadow.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Viljam was currently hiding in the safest place he could think of, the closet in his room. One possibility worse than another going through his head.

One scenario Viljam could think of was Rise finding him and stabbing him to death. Another was of him walking home and the said girl hitting his head with a bat. And the scariest one, force feeding him a highly toxic substance Rise calls her cooking.

Viljam nearly jumped as he heard someone knocking on his room's door. " _Nousku-kun, are you there?_ " That was definitely Yukiko.

Viljam didn't dare to answer, afraid that Rise had coerced or otherwise forced Yukiko to trick him.

" _Rise-chan left_ ," Yukiko called from the outside, " _She's still mad, but she's not planning to kill you._ ".

That didn't exactly make Viljam feel better, but it at least meant he would live just a little bit longer. "You sure," Viljam dared to say loudly from his hiding spot.

" _Yes, it's okay now_ ," Yukiko said reassuringly.

Now Viljam dared to come out of the closet and go to the door. The Finnish boy carefully opened the door to see Yukiko with a concerned look, and Chie with an apologetic look. As soon as Viljam's head passed the doorframe, he felt someone smack him upside the head. "Au!". Viljam turned to where the smack came from and came face to face with Rise, who was smirking.

"That's for-," Rise didn't finish her sentence, because Viljam, whose face lost all color, instantly retreated to his room and slammed the door shut. The teen idol blinked at what just happened. "You two weren't kidding, he _is_ terrified," Rise commented in amazement. When Yukiko and Chie told Rise about Viljam having nightmares about Rise's shadow, they also told the auburn haired girl about the Finnish boy being easily scared. The teen idol had a hard time believing it, since the guy faces shadows about as easily as the rest of them, from what Rise was able to pick up. But facing an angry girl is enough to make him scared to death.

"Yeah, he's kinda pathetic like that," Chie admitted in mild amusement.

" _Traitors!_ " Came the hurt exclamation from behind the door.

"Sorry Nousku-kun," Yukiko apologized feeling ashamed of luring Viljam out, "But we had to let her do at least that much.".

"This was your fault anyway," Chie said, but she felt just a little bad for saying that.

" _...Is she still angry,_ " Viljam asked unsurely, causing Rise to roll her eyes.

"I'm not surprisingly, but you better watch your mouth next time," Rise warned half joking. Part of Rise still wanted to do worse to Viljam, but considering it was really her shadow that caused him to say that, she would let him off with that smack. Also, the fact that she learned Viljam being easy to scare almost makes up for it. Almost. "Because next time, very bad things will happen to you," Rise said in a very evil tone.

"Rise-chan, I think he's suffered enough," Chie said in worry, because she could swear she heard whimpering behind the door.

Rise looked thoughtful before giving her peppy answer, "Nah!".

"Umm..., Nousku-kun can you come out now," Yukiko asked, after all, they might still do some studying since the day is far from over.

" _...No._ "

" _This might take a while,_ " was the collective thought of the three girls. Was he really that terrified or was he just being childish? At this point, Yukiko was leaning towards childish.

Rise on the other hand had the following thought, " _I might have some fun with this._ ". It took every ounce of her willpower not to smirk at the evil things she might do if the opportunity ever rose.

" _I don't know if this is funny or sad,_ " Chie sighed mentally. This could be a long day, if Viljam decides to be uncooperative.

* * *

 **An: And there it is. This chapter doesn't have a real focus in my opinion, but I hope you enjoyed it, while I try to write the next chapter.**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

 **AN: And here's the next chapter**

* * *

 **(Inaba. August 13th. Daytime)**

After a studying for those licenses and taking the test. The girls and Viljam got their licenses yesterday. Today, Chie was practicing driving in her neighborhood with the scooter she borrowed from her cousin. If that beach trip did happen, this is what she would be driving with.

"Careful...," Chie muttered as she drove through the shopping district, since she felt more comfortable with the thing now. " _I deserve a steak skewer,_ " Chie thought as she passed Souzai Daigaku. After driving through the streets and having some nerves about doing something stupid, she got hungry. Besides, taking a break would be a good idea.

After finding a place to park the scooter, Chie got to Souzai and was now munching on four steak skewers. "MM-MM," Chie hummed happily as she could feel the tension caused by her nerves just melt away.

Chie was about to start on her final skewer when her phone started ringing. The Kung Fu loving girl grumbled a little at the interruption. Then she saw that the call was from Viljam. Now curious about what he wanted to talk about, Chie answered, "Hello."

" _Hi, Chie-san,_ " Viljam said from the phone, sounding a little... down?

"What's up," Chie asked, ignoring Viljam's current mood for now.

" _...I'm bored,_ " Viljam admitted, causing Chie to do a double take. Did he seriously just call her because he was bored?

"...Really," Chie said, looking very exasperated. "Why are you calling me about it," the green clad girl asked in mild annoyance.

" _Sorry, did I interrupt something,_ " Viljam asked, sounding apologetic.

Chie sighed a little. It's not that he interrupted anything important, but he could've waited after she had finished her final skewer. "Not really, just taking a break from driving," Chie replied with a small sigh. "Speaking of driving, shouldn't you be getting feel for it too," Chie asked, remembering that Viljam could be doing that to ease his boredom.

" _There's only one scooter, so_ _Yukiko and I were taking turns,_ " Viljam explained, " _But during Yukiko's turn, her mom asked her to do an errand that required the scooter._ "

Chie raised an eyebrow at that. Yukiko only got that license yesterday alongside Viljam. Unless...,"Do you know where Yukiko went?". It was possible that Yukiko went somewhere not too far away.

" _No, sorry,_ " Viljam replied.

"No worries, Yukiko knows what she's doing," Chie said, but now she was a little curious about how Viljam was doing, "Did you get to try the scooter yet?"

" _Yeah... It was scary, I kept thinking something bad was about to happen,_ " Viljam said, though he did chuckle at the end of the sentence.

"You worry too much," Chie said as she shook her head.

" _...Yeah, maybe you're right._ "

"Do you think you could've done that errand instead," Chie then asked.

" _Huh? Why,_ " Viljam asked, surprised at the sudden question.

 _"_ Just curious _,_ " Chie shrugged.

" _...No, I don't think I'm comfortable driving further than the Inn's immediate area anytime soon,_ " Viljam admitted. " _Speaking of which, how are you doing,_ " the Finnish boy then asked.

"Actually, I've stopped at the shopping district and I'm eating a steak skewer," Chie revealed and took a bite out of the final skewer hoping that Viljam could hear her chew.

Whether Viljam heard her chewing or just believed her, he said the next sentence in amazement" _...You've already driven to shopping district?_ _You're amazing!_ ".

Chie felt a surge of pride at hearing that. "Thanks, but I think I should've driven a few more rounds around the neighborhood before that," the green clad girl said, remembering how nerve wracking it was driving outside her comfort zone.

" _Maybe, but you still progressed more than me,_ " Viljam said from his end.

"Yeah, but you'll get there too eventually," Chie said. "Are you still bored," Chie asked jokingly.

" _Not anymore, thanks for tolerating me,_ " Viljam said, sounding a bit more cheerful.

Chie frowned when she caught onto the keyword. "What did I say about that," Chie mock lectured.

" _Sorry,_ " Viljam said quickly.

"Come on don't be so serious," Chie said with a chuckle. "I think I should drive home now," Chie then said, getting up and already walking back to her scooter.

" _Okay, drive safely,_ " Viljam said, and the two hung up.

Chie shook her head at Viljam's words. Not like she was going to do anything insane. That scooter is her cousin's after all. If she broke it..., well, she'd rather not think what would happen.

 **(Inaba. August 13th. Daytime)**

"Thank you for today, Senpai," Rise said happily. She and Yu had been hanging out today. The little argument they had few days ago mostly forgotten.

Mostly, because Rise started being just a little more careful about her actions in Yu's presence. Yu on the other hand felt comfortable again.

Currently, the two were walking back towards Rise's house. "It was nothing," Yu said dismissively. It's not like they did anything special, just visiting Junes. Meeting Yosuke there briefly, who was very jealous of Yu spending time with Rise.

As the two approached the tofu shop, they saw a bespectacled man in a suit. He looked like he was watching the shop.

"Who's that," Rise muttered aloud, before her eyes widened in alarm, "Could it be a stalker!?".

"He doesn't look like one, maybe just a reporter," Yu commented, but was still wary. After all, some stalkers might not look like stalkers. "Should we call police just in case," the silver haired boy then asked.

"Well...," Rise trailed off, "... He hasn't done anything yet, so maybe not.". Then Rise eyed the man a little closer. "Actually..., he looks familiar," Rise then said thoughtfully, earning a curious look from Yu.

"From where," Yu asked simply.

"I'm not sure, but let's find out," Rise said, before adding unsurely, "If he does something..., can I count on you, Senpai?".

Yu could clearly see the worry in Rise, but he was confident that nothing would happen. Still..."I'll protect you if it comes to that," the silverhaired boy said reassuringly.

"Thanks," Rise said in relief, and with that they approached the man.

At the sound of their footsteps, the man glanced at them, before his eyes fell on Rise. "Rise-chan," the man exclaimed, before speedwalking towards the two.

Yu was about to act, but Rise beat him to it. "Inoue-san," Rise exclaimed in surprise, "W-why are you here?".

If Rise hadn't stammered, Yu might've thought that nothing was wrong now, also she sounded nervous. "Rise-chan, who is this," Yu decided to ask, before drawing any conclusions.

Unfortunately, Rise either didn't hear him or ignored the question. "I already settled everything with the agency," the teen idol said sounding annoyed at the man.

The man, now named Inoue, sighed at Rise's hostility. "I'm here because... Personally I can't accept that," the suited man said, "I've watched over you all this time as your manager.".

That answered Yu's question on who Inoue is.

"I'm no longer a 'personality'," Rise said with an edge to her voice.

" _Does she mean 'Risette',_ " Yu couldn't help but think in mild surprise. Considering Rise's problem about her 'self', it shouldn't surprise him that she would have some issues about it. That however begs the question, why is she becoming so hostile right now?

"My private time doesn't belong to a manager anymore," Rise said a little angrier. "Go home! If you don't, I'll call the police," Rise threatened her former manager, who was taken back by the open hostility.

"W-wait," Inoue stammered. Then the man recomposed himself. "Look, could you just think it over," Inoue asked calmly. "I believe that no other actress can play that role better than Risette," Inoue explained, earning question marks from Yu.

But before the silver haired boy could say anything, Rise started shouting, "You still want me to act!?"

"Huh," Inoue said, confused by Rise's anger and words.

"Anyway, I'm through with showbiz now," Rise said firmly. "I've...," Rise trailed off looking towards Yu. Then Rise did something that threw Yu's mind into a loop, she latched onto his arm. "I've decided to marry this man when I graduate," Rise exclaimed.

" _WHAT!?_ " It was a miracle Yu didn't voice that thought.

"What!?" Inoue on the other hand, unknowingly voiced Yu's thought in shock.

"I said it was a hiatus before, but I've made up my mind now! I'm not going back," Rise exclaimed, grasping Yu's arm tighter. "Narukami-senpai, sees the real me," the auburn haired girl said.

Yu would've questioned why Rise started using his last name, if there wasn't more pressing matters. As much as Yu wanted to deny it, Rise's desparation was clear to him. So with a mental sigh, "It's true. That's what we promised each other," Yu said sounding serious.

Inoue looked very surprised at the admission, before sighing. "Alright..., I will leave for now," the man said sounding almost sad.

That snapped Rise out of her surprise at Yu going with her lie. "Go away! NOW!" Rise shouted, causing the man to leave very fast.

As soon as Inoue was out of sight, Rise detached herself from Yu. "...Um...," Rise stammered, staring at the patch of asphalt beneath her.

After few more seconds, Yu decided to break the silence, "That was your manager, right?".

Rise looked up in surprise. "How did you- Oh right," Rise said, realizing that Yu picked it up from the conversation. "Inoue-san... was my manager, yes," Rise explained. "He has a daughter my age, so he treated me like I was family.".

Yu was a little surprised to hear that. When Rise spoke a little of her time as Risette, she made it sound like her manager treated her like a mindless doll. Clearly he was wrong then, and after seeing that he seemed more sad that Rise was yelling at him like that, Yu actually felt sorry for him.

"But he's a stranger now," Rise said, looking a little down about saying it. Then Rise turned towards Yu with an apologetic look. "Yu-senpai... I'm sorry for lying... about marrying you and all," Rise apologized looking ashamed of herself.

Yu almost wanted to sigh, but he decided to have some payback for that. "It... was a lie," Yu said questioningly, sounding very hurt.

Now Rise looked alarmed, she didn't think Yu would actually think she was serious. "I'm sorry senpai... I... I-I...," Rise stammered, not knowing what to say. Now she was afraid that Yu will hate him for this. She had barely salvaged the swimsuit shopping incident, and now she had to do something like this.

"*Pfft*"

"Eh?" Rise's train of thought was cut at that sound. Then she saw that Yu was covering his mouth, mirth clearly written on the rest of his face. "HEY!" Rise shouted in indignation, realizing that she's been played.

"I'm sorry," Yu said, before actually laughing a little, while Rise looked unamused to say the least.

"You're the worst," Rise said, gritting her teeth at Yu laughing at her.

That calmed Yu down somewhat, making him adopt a serious expression. "Says the girl who lied through her teeth," Yu retorted with a serious tone.

Rise was tempted to slap him for that, but because of the seriousness in Yu's voice, the auburn haired girl only sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry," Rise said, still feeling ashamed, but not as much as few seconds ago.

"It's fine," Yu said reassuringly, before donning a serious expression, "But I strongly suggest not lying about something like that in the future.".

"Thank you, senpai," Rise said much more cheerfully, either ignoring or not caring about the latter sentence. "You really are a nice guy," the girl then said with a smile.

Yu was a little surprised at that. "Really? After I tricked you like that," Yu said in confusion, considering the fact that he just duped her pretty meanly.

Rise shook her head at the sentence. "I had it coming, so it's okay," Rise said not really mad at being duped anymore.

Yu smiled a little at hearing that. Still, what was the role Inoue was talking about? " _*sigh* As much as I want to ask, I'd rather not ruin her mood now,_ " Yu thought. Besides, if Rise wants him to know, she will tell him on her own.

"I'll see you later then," Rise said happily, before entering her house with a noticeable skip to her steps.

"How did she switch from annoyed to happy so fast," Yu couldn't help but wonder aloud. He almost thought she would hold a grudge for his little trick. Still, Yu was just happy she was able to take the joke in the end. " _Maybe I should follow uncle's advice._ " Yu chuckled at the thought. Sure, this doesn't yet count as leading on, but hopefully he doesn't have to go through attempted murder from Rise. Then again, maybe Dojima was exaggerating... Hopefully.

Shaking his head to rid himself of those scary thoughts, Yu decided to go home for now.

 **(Yosuke's house. August 13th. Evening)**

"Why did he get to hang out with Rise-chan today," Yosuke grumbled as he practiced on one of the many games, Viljam had beaten him in.

"Because Sensei is awesome," Teddie said smugly, even as he was getting his ass handed to him. Yosuke needed a practice partner for his training to beat Viljam, and Teddie was the best he had. Which wasn't much. It took about an hour to make Teddie learn the controls, and a few smacks to the head to make him stop ogling the female characters.

The comment earned the blonde boy a glare from Yosuke. "It's still not fair," Yosuke grumbled. He's a big fan and yet it was Yu who gets to hang out with her.

"Have you tried hanging out with her," Teddie asked innocently.

"What?" Teddie's question came so out of the blue, that Yosuke stopped playing for a moment.

"I mean, if you wanna hang out with Rise-chan, shouldn't you ask her," Teddie asked.

Once again, Yosuke was surprised by Teddie's simple way of thinking. Why can't he make sense all the time? "Unfortunately, I've been busy with work, and things are gonna get busier with the upcoming hero show," Yosuke said with a sigh. That was the second reason for this gaming session, stress relief. Because of a hero show that was scheduled next week, Yosuke and the rest of the Junes workers have their work cut out for them, but they're currently short on staff.

"Oh well, at least I win," Teddie said happily.

"What? YOU LITTLE-!" Yosuke shouted as he realized that Teddie had used the distraction to his advantage. Yosuke quickly picked up the controller again, but it was too little too late.

"YAY!" Teddie cheered at his unfair victory.

"That's it! You're not getting tospicles for a week," Yosuke said in anger. Maybe this was petty, but Teddie shouldn't have cheated.

As the Junes boy expected, Teddie looked horrified, "Noooo! You can't do this to me," Teddie cried, trying to give Yosuke the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

Unfortunately, right now Yosuke's heart has turned to stone. "Nuh-uh, this is punishment for cheating," Yosuke said smugly, "And just so you know, I can stay mad at you the whole next week.". That statement was false, but Yosuke wanted Teddie to learn that cheating is bad.

"Please," Teddie begged on his knees.

"Nope."

"Please, I promise I'll never do it again." Teddie tried again, but Yosuke had already tuned him out.

" _Next week, we're going to need more workers. According to dad, any part timers will do...,_ " Yosuke thought to himself. One idea sprung to mind, " _I'm gonna regret this, but I have to ask Yu for help,_ " Yosuke mentally sighed, but he still knew that Yu alone isn't enough. " _Who else can I ask... Maybe Satonaka, I think I can bribe her with meat or just the payment,_ " Yosuke thought to himself, though he hoped the payment would be enough.

"BEARTTY PLEASE!" And Yosuke felt someone grabbing his leg.

"Teddie! Get off," Yosuke shouted while trying to get his leg away from the begging boy's grasp. "Ted, if you don't behave, it'll be two weeks without ANY sweets," the Junes boy threatened.

That got the bear to get off and shut up, though he still had a depressed look.

If Yosuke's heart had walls, they would have enormous cracks right about now. Sure Teddie was being a nuisance and he cheated, but maybe Yosuke was a little cruel right now. "Listen, next week if you do well at work, I'm gonna get you some sweets," Yosuke relented a little, causing Teddie to perk up.

"Okay." the blonde boy said happily.

" _He's easy to please,_ " Yosuke thought to himself. Still, he still had a problem of too little workforce. His father did announce for all workers to try recruiting more part timers, but Yosuke wasn't expecting much from them. " _I wonder if Viljam would be willing,_ " Yosuke couldn't help but wonder. Assuming of course that Viljam isn't busy with the Inn alongside Yukiko. " _Never hurts to ask,_ " Yosuke thought hopefully.

"What are you thinking about?" Was the next question that cut off Yosuke's train of thought.

"Just thinking about who to ask to help next week," Yosuke replied.

"Ooh, why not ask Sensei," Teddie said eagerly.

"Already thought that," Yosuke replied.

"How about Chie-chan and Yuki-chan," Teddie then asked.

"Satonaka might be available, but Amagi probably has to help at the Inn," Yosuke said easily.

"Hmm... What about Rise-chan," Teddie then exclaimed. "Oh, how she would look so pretty in the Junes apron," the blonde said dreamily.

Yosuke shook his head at Teddie's antics, "Yeah, yeah. One problem, she would get surrounded by her fans and not get anything done. Besides, I doubt she would like doing menial tasks that we have at Junes.".

"Aww," Teddie pouted. "What about Kanji or Villy," Teddie then suggested though he was far less enthusiastic now.

"I don't want Kanji to scare customers away. As for Viljam, he's probably busy with the Inn too, but I'm still gonna ask if I can borrow him," Yosuke said.

"I still think the girls should come, I mean the ones at Junes are pretty, but it would be nice to have familiar faces," Teddie said thoughtfully.

Yosuke shook his head. Teddie still had ideas about scoring with the girls of the team, but Yosuke doesn't take it too seriously. Besides, if anyone's gonna score with them it's probably Yu. Excpet Viljam might score Chie... Yeah that thought was still funny. Anyway, "We'll see. Tomorrow I'm gonna ask them. But for now, it's time for bed" Yosuke said, before shutting down the console and went to do just that.

"Are you still mad at me," Teddie asked innocently with some hope that Yosuke had forgotten.

"Yes." No such luck for Teddie.

"You don't sound mad," Teddie replied with a confused head tilt.

"It's called silent anger, so don't test me."

Teddie wisely obeyed and just went to his closet to sleep.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 14th. Daytime)**

You would think that Sundays would be less strenuous than most days, but that wasn't the case in Amagi Inn. Yukiko had learned that when she was little. Make no mistake, Sundays aren't easy days, but that doesn't mean they're bad.

Thankfully for Yukiko today broke that mold. There was less to do at the Inn for a change, but she knew for a fact that there were a lot of reservations for the next week. Still, she would enjoy her break when she can. Current one taking place in her own room

Though it was interrupted, by her phone ringing on her table.

"Hanamura-kun," Yukiko wondered aloud at the caller ID. "Hello."

" _Ahh, Amagi! Thanks for answering, are you busy right now,_ " Yosuke said from his end of the line.

That earned Yukiko's attention, was he going to ask her to hang out? "Not really, but I doubt I will be able to hang out today," Yukiko said with a hint of apology in her tone.

" _Huh? No nothing like that. I was gonna ask if I could borrow Viljam next week,_ " Yosuke said.

"Borrow him? For what," Yukiko asked.

" _Junes needs some extra hands for next week. I was wondering if you could let me borrow him for that time,_ " Yosuke explained.

Yukiko nodded a little in understanding, but that left one tiny question. "I don't mind you borrowing him. But shouldn't you ask Nousku-kun if he wants to," Yukiko asked.

" _Well... I was worried that he might be too busy with the Inn next week, so I thought I'd get an okay from you first,_ " Yosuke said.

Yukiko shook her head. "That was nice of you, but I think you should just ask him yourself. I'm sure he would agree if you ask nicely," Yukiko said.

" _...Guess I should. Is he near you at the moment,_ " Yosuke asked.

"No, he's practicing on the scooter, but I can ask him to call you back when I see him," Yukiko offered.

" _Okay, thanks,_ " Yosuke said sounding relieved. " _Say..., what kind of yukata were you planning to wear,_ " Yosuke asked out of curiosity.

Yukiko answered by shutting the phone. For some reason, she didn't feel comfortable answering that. Then Yukiko's eyes widened a little at remembering something, "Oh right! I probably should ask Chie if she already has a yukata." and then she called Chie to do just that.

* * *

 **AN: I'm starting to lose what little momentum I have again. That, and I need to start studying for JLPT. That means I will probably be on hiatus. I will try writing whenever I feel like it, but don't hold on to your hopes until past December 4th. I also need to finish redecorating my room after getting walls newly painted and a photo wallpaper.**

 **On another note, I could be imagining it, but I lost one follower. Guess I didn't do that well after all. To those who still follow me, thank you for being patient with me, and sorry about this inconvenient news**


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

 **AN: Sorry about the delay, a lot of things happened after taking JLPT. Speaking of which, I'm so nervous. I don't know If I can wait until March for the results.**

* * *

 **(Junes. August 15th. Daytime)**

As Yosuke thought, there were a lot of people at Junes. Surprisingly for the Junes boy, other workers managed to convince some extra hands too.

Right now, Yosuke finished moving some stuff in the storage rooms and was on his way to Food court which would no doubt be full of children and their parents.

" _Wonder how Viljam's doing,_ " Yosuke thought with a light snicker. Yes, he had convinced Viljam to come help in Junes. But last he saw the Finnish boy, the guy seemed to be afraid of people. Yosuke would've actually called the whole thing off if he wasn't so desparate... Why does that word still sting? " _I really should get over it,_ " Yosuke thought before entering the food court.

Sure enough, the place was packed with children and their parents who came to watch the hero show. Speaking of which, the stage and the set was already set on one end of the roof.

But that's not what Yosuke was here for. After scanning a little bit, he finally noticed Yu, who was assisting at one of the food court stalls. Soon enough, Yosuke had made his way towards his best friend. "Hey, Yu," Yosuke said as cheerily as he could.

Yu looked up from his work to see Yosuke. "Hi. Are you on a break or something," Yu asked, returning to his current task.

"Not yet, I'm looking for Viljam and Satonaka, have you seen them," Yosuke replied.

"Satonaka-san's over there," Yu responded simply while pointing to a stall not too far. Sure enough, there was Chie trying to convince customers to buy food and drinks. Judging by some of the lines, she was doing a pretty good job. "As for Viljam, look over there," Yu added in amusement.

Yosuke squinted at the area Yu was pointing towards. After a moment he saw Viljam and Teddie entertaining some children. Teddie was of course in his costume, and whatever the bear was doing with Viljam, they definitely had fun doing it. "I didn't know he was good with kids," Yosuke said in mild surprise.

"Neither did I," Yu said, finally stopping what he was doing for the moment. "And to think that a moment ago he was worried about being around people," the silverhaired boy added with a small smile.

"He's faced shadows with us. You'd think people would be less scary," Yosuke chuckled, finding the idea funny.

"Shadows and people are two different things," Yu pointed out in humor.

"That's true. Anyway, I need those two for something, keep up the good work," Yosuke then said, before starting to move towards Chie first.

"Alright. See you later," Yu said before focusing on his own job again.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Chie would've preferred advertising the food stalls, but unfortunately Yosuke asked her to move some stuff in one of the other storage rooms, while Yosuke went off to work somewhere else.

"Lift with your legs," said the silver lining in the room named Viljam.

"How," Chie said with mild annoyance. The Kung Fu loving girl had been trying to lift a somewhat heavy box by bending over to lift it.

"Like this," the Finnish boy replied and demonstrated, by crouching to grab another box and stood back up, lifting the said box in the process. "Didn't your parents teach you how to lift properly," Viljam couldn't help but ask as he moved the box to it's assigned shelf.

"No, my dad never let me do heavy lifting," Chie sighed as she lifted the box again with her legs.

That earned a surprised look from Viljam, " Why not? It's not like you can't.".

"Because according to him, 'I don't need to do that'," Chie said, doing air quotations after putting the box away.

"Your dad has poor logic," Viljam said while shaking his head.

"You're right about that," Chie agreed. Proper lifting process is vital if you want to keep your back healthy, and while Chie may not be doing any heavy lifting after this week, it's still good to know when she would move stuff to her own apartment one day. "What about you," Chie decided to ask.

"What about me," Viljam asked in confusion.

"Did your dad teach you how to lift properly," Chie clarified.

That earned a chuckle from Viljam. "Oh yeah. One of the many things dad managed to drill into my head," Viljam said while tapping his head for emphasis.

Chie couldn't help but shake her head a little in amusement at Viljam's phrase. From there, the two kept moving the rest of the boxes.

"...I noticed that you and Teddie were entertaining the kids," Chie opened up a conversation while lifting the last box.

"Yeah, I was assigned as Teddie's assis-*snrk*, assist-*pfft*, assistant*ehhehe*. Sorry I still can't *kihhih* say that with a straight face," Viljam said, failing to hold his laughter in.

Chie sweatdropped at Viljam's laughter, not understanding what he found so funny. Deciding to shrug it off, she stepped on a stool that was used to reach higher shelves to put the last box away. Unfortunately, even with the stool, Chie couldn't quite reach without going on tiptoes.

Viljam saw this and moved next to her, just in case she would fall.

"Come on... There," Chie exclaimed after finally getting the box on the shelf. After that, Chie stepped down safely.

"By the way, I noticed that the kids loved you and Ted. Were you always good with them," Chie asked out of curiosity. It's not that she thought Viljam doesn't like kids, but she saw him interacting with them like it was natural to him.

"...I don't know, I've never really tried before. Actually I think it's because of Teddie that I was able to do it," Viljam admitted, earning a surprised look from Chie. "I mean, I was nervous that I might do something stupid, but then I saw what Teddie was doing and... Well... How should I say it...? Eased into it," the Finnish boy added unsurely.

"Well, whatever it is, good job," Chie complimented. Then she had a thoughtful look, "Hey, how did Hanamura convince you to come here again.". The only reason Chie really asked was because she thought Viljam wouldn't like working in a place like this.

"He promised a good pay for this," Viljam admitted just a little ashamed of being lured by money. "What about you?".

"Same, plus free steak during breaks," Chie said with an evil grin at the last part.

"Did he offer that, or did you make him," Viljam asked in amusement, with just a hint of worry.

"He actually offered that," Chie said cheerfully, completely missing the worry. "Say, when we get our break, wanna join me for steak," the green clad girl asked, though at the end she felt a little nervous.

"Sure," Viljam said, missing the nervousness.

 **(Some time later)**

The hero show was in full swing now. Meaning that the children and their parents had their full attention on the show. Which in turn allowed Yosuke, Yu as well as other workers to have a slightly less busy moment.

Speaking of which, Yu and Yosuke took this moment to have their lunch break, knowing that they will have their work cut out for them soon enough.

"...Hey, Yu. Am I desperate," Yosuke asked Yu, who almost choked on his takoyaki at the sudden question.

After a few seconds of recovering and a swig of his drink, Yu was able to answer. "Where did that come from," Yu asked, just before the cogs in his head were turning, "...Is this about what Viljam said.".

"A little, but I started thinking... What if he's right? What if I am desperate for a girl," Yosuke said almost sounding ashamed of himself.

"...I don't know what to say, but I don't think Viljam really understands what he's talking about," Yu said, even though he knew that the Finnish boy's words about girls not liking desperate guys held at least some truth.

"Yeah, like when he assumed _that_ about..., about..." Yosuke looked like he was physically in pain because of whatever he was trying to say.

"...Ohtani-san?"

"Yes," Yosuke said with a cringe. "I still can't believe he went and assumed me being... after her." The Junes boy cringed again at the last two words.

"...Yeah, he should at least know your girl preferences by now," Yu said with a chuckle.

"Very funny," Yosuke said, but he looked somewhat amused. "Speaking of girl preferences, is Rise your type," Yosuke decided to turn the conversation on his silver haired partner.

Yu donned a blank expression at the question,"What?".

"You've spent an awful lot of time with her, if I understood right," Yosuke said with a suspicious look.

Yu sighed at this. "Yosuke if this is about-" "Forget that," Yosuke interrupted, "My fan status aside, is she your type?".

Yu was a little taken back at Yosuke's serious expression. "*sigh* I don't know," Yu said honestly.

"What do you mean, you don't know," Yosuke asked a little curious.

Yu looked thoughtful. "I don't know if she's my... type. Actually, I don't know if she can be really classified for any type.".

"How, so," Yosuke asked, getting more curious.

"Whenever I think I can predict her next action, she throws me in a loop," Yu said honestly. "Sometimes I wonder how she can be so..., unpredictable.".

"...I'm not sure I get what you're saying," Yosuke said honestly. "But it sounds like you like her," the Junes boy then teased.

"...Really," Yu deadpanned. "Please don't pull Satonaka-Viljam on me," Yu said seriously.

"What?"

"Satonaka-Viljam, the moment Viljam so much as complimented Satonaka-san, you started acting like they were in love," Yu clarified.

"I just couldn't resist, okay? Besides, you were talked into trying to get them together," Yosuke retorted.

"And I still regret not saying 'no' sooner," Yu said with a sigh. "Not that we had time to do any damage," the silver haired boy added.

"Yeah..., anyway-," Yosuke's next question was drowned out by children screaming in excitement at the climax of the hero show. "Well, back to work now," Yosuke managed to shout over the hollering, to which Yu nodded.

 **(Chie's house. August 15th. Evening)**

"Yeah, Nousku-kun seemed like he had fun, why," Chie answered Yukiko on the phone.

" _I just wanted to make sure he isn't hiding anything,_ " Yukiko replied.

"...You almost sound like you don't trust him," Chie said with just a little bit of suspicion.

" _Sorry. It's just that if something bad happens, he doesn't want to talk about it,_ " Yukiko replied.

"Okay, what has he done this time," Chie asked a little worried for Yukiko. Her best friend had a bad habit of worrying about others for better or worse.

" _Oh no! He's done nothing... Well, he does seem a little... distracted. When I ask him about it, he only says it's nothing to worry about,_ " Yukiko answered sincerely.

Chie looked a little thoughtful," He didn't seem different when we had steak together either."

" _What?_ " Yukiko sounded surprised. " _He didn't say anything about that._ "

"What?"

" _Nouku-kun didn't say anything about a date with you,_ " Yukiko clarified.

Chie's eye twitched. "We we're having a lunch break," Chie said feeling a headache already coming.

" _...Sorry,_ " Yukiko apologized.

"You don't hear me teasing you about Narukami-kun," Chie said out of minor spite.

" _Please don't. Nousku-kun has teased me enough,_ " Yukiko said, hoping that Chie wouldn't do anything.

"Has he? What did he say," Chie asked more out of curiosity, than possibility of payback. Although it would be nice.

" _...I don't want to talk about it,_ " Yukiko said while blushing, or that's what Chie suspected was happening.

"Alright, but can we agree not to poke into our non-existent love lives from now on," Chie said, hoping Yukiko would agree to it.

" _Okay, Chie. Anyway, are you looking forward to the festival,_ " Yukiko said, changing the topic. Something that the green clad girl was all too happy about.

 **(Dojima Household. August 15th. Roughly the same time)**

"So let me get this straight," Yu said into his phone, "You already decided to try and win Satonaka-san over, but now you started questioning why you like her?" The disbelief couldn't be clearer in Yu's voice.

" _...When you put it that way, I feel stupid,_ " Viljam said in embarrassment from his end of the line.

Yu couldn't help but sigh. "So, what do you want me to tell you," the silver haired boy asked, hoping that Viljam wouldn't ask a direct answer.

" _I... thought you might be able to help me pinpoint the reason,_ " Came the unsure response.

" _Good he's not expecting a direct answer,_ " Yu thought. "Let's start from the beginning, do you find her attractive," Yu started off.

.

.

.

"Viljam? Are you still there?"

" _...-es._ "

Yu resisted an urge to laugh at the nearly inaudible response. "I'm going to assume you said yes to my previous question. So, what about her is attractive?"

" _I don't know,_ " Viljam said like he was ashamed of it.

"You don't know," Yu repeated, before the cogs started to turn, "Or are you too embarrassed to say them?".

" _...I can't say it,_ " Viljam admitted, sounding like he was ready to be hit.

"Hey, we're both guys, no judging here," Yu said reassuringly, thinking that Viljam was afraid that he would be judged.

" _...It's just..., I don't know. I just... can't put it into words. I mean, she is... p-pretty and all, but I think there's something more. Something that... I... I don't even know how to say it,_ " Viljam said, sounding like he wasn't breathing properly.

"Okay stop, and take a deep breath," Yu said, worrying that the Finnish boy was about to have a panic attack or something. Yu could hear the distressed boy doing just that as he formulated a new approach. "Okay, now exhale. Repeat it two more times and then we'll try again," Yu said, wondering if he should do this. How could he possibly help with relationships, when he's never been in one. He never had the chance, nor has he given much thought, due to moving around the country.

" _Okay, I'm calm again,_ " Viljam said, sounding very relieved.

"Okay, let's take a different approach, you do know that she loves meat a lot, unlike most girls," Yu said.

" _...It's surprising, but not weird, besides I find it nice that she is as much of a carnivore as I am,_ " Viljam said, feeling more comfortable.

"Mm-hmm," Yu hummed in thought, although he remembered Viljam saying that vegetables are evil. "How about, her near obsession with Kung Fu," Yu said, though he didn't really mean the obsession part.

" _It's just something she likes. Kinda like how I like video games,_ " Viljam said like it was obvious.

"She can have a quick temper," Yu said, wondering how the Finnish boy would respond.

" _...Yeah... But the few times I snap..., I'm not much better,_ " Viljam said with a heavy sigh.

Yu nodded picturing the moment Viljam snapped at Mitsuo back in April. Although, the picture in the silver haired leader's head was probably more comedic than the real event. That, and the incident when Viljam threw his text book at Morooka. Yet the Finnish boy felt bad both times. Actually, maybe his Shadow was hostile because of suppressed anger, but that was a thought for another time.

"Alright, now for the next question, has Satonaka-san given you a reason to think she might like you, or at least not mind the idea of dating you," Yu asked. Maybe the question was a little too direct.

" _No._ " That answer came a little too quickly.

"That was too quick. At least think before you respond," Yu said sternly. The answer Yu got was silence. "*sigh* You don't have to name the event, just tell me if there are any such events that told you she might like you. Any at all," Yu said supportively.

.

.

.

" _Y-yes..._ "

"There we go," Yu said while smiling, "Now we're progressing. I won't ask what it was, but now we have something to start from."

" _O-okay, so what next,_ " Viljam answered carefully, even though he didn't really understand where this was going.

"I'm afraid that this is all I can do for you," Yu said, earning a loud "TÄH" from the phone. "I'm afraid that the final answer must come from you," the silver haired leader explained.

" _Häh? Yu-san, that doesn't make sense! I called you about this, because this is something I can't possibly figure out,_ " Viljam exclaimed, sounding betrayed.

"Can't, or don't want to," Yu asked, not even understanding why he said that. It just felt like the right answer.

.

.

.

And the call was cut. Yu knew that the answer he gave Viljam wasn't what the Finnish boy wanted, but he hoped that it was the one Viljam needed. "Hopefully I didn't make things worse," Yu muttered, before preparing himself for bed.

 **(Junes. August 16th. Daytime)**

Yu was mildly surprised that Viljam apologized about cutting off the call abruptly again. The silver haired boy forgave him, but hopefully this won't become a habit.

Anyway, Yu was manning the takoyaki stall this time, while Yosuke, Viljam and Chie were working somewhere else, and Teddie was of course entertaining the kids.

However, there wasn't much time to think, because of the long lines in front of his stall. So Yu worked practically on autopilot, taking orders, making said orders and serving them while taking the payment.

Right now, Yu just finished frying the next order and handed it to the girl about his age, by quick estimate. She had auburn hair, was wearing a sun hat and had very dark shades.

"There you go," Yu said barely sounding natural.

"Thank you Senpai," The girl said in a chipper voice, snapping Yu out of autopilot.

Wait! Auburn hair, that familiar chipper voice. "Is that you Ris-" "SHH," Rise interrupted. Rise moved out of the way of the next customer, while mouthing "Later".

Despite having to move onto the next customer, Yu managed to find time to think. "How did I not, recognize her sooner?" Yu couldn't help but think, almost feeling stupid. But then he remembered Rise's idol status. She must've disguised herself so that people wouldn't recognize her. At least it was working, if it fooled him for a moment.

 **(Some time later)**

Now that Yu was relieved for a break, he went towards a far corner table, where Rise was sitting with Chie, Viljam and Yosuke. Actually, it looked like three of them were having fun at Viljam's expense.

"Seriously, what kind of messed up mind do you have," Rise asked teasingly from Viljam who looked like he wished to be anywhere but here.

"Sometimes I wonder that too," Yosuke chimed in.

"Hanat kiinni," Viljam grumbled.

"You do realize that's not gonna make us stop," Yosuke said with a smirk, having a good idea about what the Finnish boy said.

"What's going on," Yu asked as he reached them.

"Oh we were just talking about the TV world," Rise said cheerily. "Then we started talking about shadows," the auburn haired girl, said giving Viljam a conspirational smile.

"Did you two tell her about his shadow," Yu asked in disapproval. To this day, everyone's shadows were a sore spot, so it has become an unspoken rule not to pry anyone about them.

"No, we just touched on how Nousku-kun got paranoid about Rise-chan's shadow," Chie said. The green clad girl knew she shouldn't enjoy this as much as she does, but Viljam's reaction is just priceless.

"Can we please drop it already," Viljam begged looking like he was closing a breakdown.

Yu was a little surprised, but not at them talking about that. "You're taking this well," Yu said, referring to Rise not being angry.

"Huh? Oh! I found out last week," Rise said, after realizing what Yu was referring to,"I was angry at first, but now I just find it so much fun teasing him about it." At the latter part of the sentence, Rise had an evil smile.

"Yeah, it is funny now that we look back on it," Chie said with a small laugh.

"Yep." Came from Yosuke.

"I hate you guys so much," Viljam grumbled, while trying to sink further into his seat.

"No you don't. Especial-." Rise had to stop herself at the sudden chill she felt. Turning a little, she saw Chie giving a look that said, "Say something wrong and I'll kick your ass!". The green clad girl hasn't forgotten about being spied on.

"What," Yosuke queried, missing the silent message. "Is there something I don't know," Yosuke asked unsurely.

"No," Chie said simply.

Yosuke opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Yu grabbing his shoulder and shaking his head. Yosuke got the hint and decided not to question.

"Anyway, Rise-chan, why are you here," Yu decided to ask.

"Oh, grandma said she doesn't need my help today, so I decided to come and say hello," Rise answered. Then she had a serious expression, "But I didn't want to risk anyone recognizing me, so I had to put on a disguise."

"Surprisingly effective," Viljam commented, happy for a change of topic, "I didn't recognize her immediately.".

"Neither did I," Yu admitted, even though he wasn't exactly trying at the time. "But who told you, that we are here," Yu couldn't help but ask.

"I visited your house earlier and Nanako-chan told me you were working here," Rise replied easily.

"I see," Yu replied, but that raised one question, "But I thought Nanako was going to spend today with her friends."

"They were there too," Rise said, earning a nod of acknowledgment.

"So, how're you girls doing with your scooters," Yosuke decided to pipe up.

This earned the two girls' attention, "I'm good, I bet I could drive all the way to Okina," Chie said confidently.

"That's great, Chie-senpai," Rise said, happy for her friend.

"What about you, Rise-san," Viljam asked, he hadn't heard anything about the teen idol's progress. And judging by the looks from the others, neither had they.

"Umm... I'm good," Rise said, but she didn't sound so sure.

"Is something wrong with your scooter," Chie inquired.

"No, no. I just, don't know if I feel comfortable driving outside of Inaba yet," Rise admitted.

"That's fine, you'll get there," Yu said encouragingly, earning a grateful look from Rise.

Viljam looked a little sheepish before speaking,"If it makes you feel better, I'm not comfortable thinking about doing long trips either.". Then the Finnish boy looked thoughtful, "Speaking of which, when are we going to go through with the beach trip plan?".

"Good question," Yosuke muttered, while scratching his head. "Maybe sometime next week?"

"Sounds good to me," Chie shrugged.

"We can work on the exact date later, I think our break's over," Yu said after glancing towards the stage set to see the end of what looked to be Feather Man show.

Viljam let out a sigh, "Taas sitä mentiin." And he got up.

"Yep." Came from the other two, even though they weren't sure what Viljam said.

"I guess I'll see you guys later," Rise said, as she too got up. Not that she was in a hurry, but now that people's attention wasn't drawn to somewhere else, the chances of someone recognizing her became higher. "Bye everyone," Rise said, earning various responses from the three, before she left.

"Well. Back to work, I guess," Yosuke said, and the rest of them got up to do just that.

 **(Several minutes later)**

"Did you have to start tormenting me?" Was the question a very annoyed Viljam asked Chie, as the two were walking to one of the storages to assist in organizing it.

"Tormenting? Really?" Chie couldn't help commenting about the Finnish boy's overdramatic description of the few jabs they threw at him.

"What else can you call that," Viljam asked.

"Light teasing. Besides, you have no right to complain," Chie retorted. At the incredulous look Viljam had, Chie continued, "You're the one who made up that joke on Hanamura's name.".

"You're using it too," Viljam said firmly.

"How about the one about Narukami-kun," Chie said, not getting a reaction out of Viljam, "Or what about you calling me cute out of nowhere all the time.". Chie regretted uttering the last one.

That made Viljam flinch. "Th-that's different," Viljam stammered.

That reaction surprised the green clad girl. "How," Chie asked skeptically, ignoring that she regretted bringing the whole thing up.

.

.

.

"Well...," Chie said, getting impatient of Viljam's silence.

"...Because it's true," Viljam said with little confidence. "And I haven't done that in a while," the Finnish boy added more confidently.

"Whatever," Chie sighed. Then she realized that he was right. "Hey, why haven't you called me that," Chie asked, sounding just a little suspicious. Looking back on those times, Chie actually felt happy. Not that she was going to admit it out loud.

"Oh we're here now," Viljam exclaimed and practically sprinted through the door that led to the storage.

"Hey! I'm not done with you," Chie shouted, trying to catch up.

Unfortunately, the moment they got into the storage the two were ushered to work. In different areas, which means Viljam got away from answering that uncomfortable question. For now.

(With Yu and Yosuke)

As luck would have it, Yu and Yosuke were put to work in the Food Court. Luck, because now they could chat a little. Strangely, Teddie was manning the Takoyaki stall, still in his costume.

"Is Teddie always that energetic at work," Yu asked Yosuke, noticing how the bear seemed just as cheerful as he did hours ago.

"Yeah, not that it's a bad thing. That bear is so cheerful that other workers find themselves smiling during the day," Yosuke replied with a shrug.

"Sounds like he has been doing good," Yu said, feeling proud of Teddie fitting in.

"Yeah. Although sometimes he gets weird ideas," Yosuke added with a sigh.

Yu couldn't help raising an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'd rather not say," Yosuke said, not wanting to remember the chaos Teddie almost caused by rearranging some of the shelves. What was amazing, was that the bear did that in less than five minutes, which caused confusion among the Junes workers as well as customers.

"I'll take your word for it," Yu said, feeling like Yosuke would snap if asked. "Anyway, did Satonaka-san say anything about that," the silverhaired boy asked with just a hint of amusement.

"That?"

"About you manipulating Viljam's dream," Yu clarified with a smirk.

Yosuke visibly flinched at being reminded. Actually, now that he thought about it, it's a miracle Chie said nothing about it. Would've been a perfect moment to make him look bad in front of Rise. "No, and honestly I'm happy about it," Yosuke said with some amount of relief, "I don't want Rise-chan to think I'm a creep.".

"You make it too easy for her," Yu jabbed, which was rewarded with an indignant "HEY!". "Just kidding," Yu said with a chuckle, before donning a serious expression, "Seriously though, you're not a creep. Deviant? Maybe a little.".

"Wow, using fancy words now," Yosuke said, totally unimpressed.

"I don't know what other word I could use without sounding like I was insulting you," Yu admitted sheepishly.

"Whatever you say fancypants," Yosuke said.

"...Really? Fancypants?"

 **(Amagi Inn[Yukiko's Room]. August 16th. Evening)**

"Look I don't want to talk about it," Viljam said, getting already annoyed.

By some miracle, Viljam managed to avoid Chie, but the green clad girl had called Yukiko about today. It didn't make sense to Viljam for Chie to vent out her frustrations on Yukiko, or that's what he assumed happened.

"I'm not asking you to talk about it," Yukiko said firmly, "I just want to know if it's going to cause problems for you.".

"...Did Chie put you up to this," Viljam asked in suspicion.

"No, I'm doing this, because I'm concerned," Yukiko said, and she wasn't even lying. Yukiko did offer Chie to ask Viljam about whatever he was hiding, but the Kung Fu lover said it was fine.

"...I'm not going to ask you to lie to her if she asks," Viljam said, meaning it as a deterrent.

"She probably won't but I promise I won't tell her," Yukiko replied, seeing through Viljam's words.

"...Look, it's not important. Besides, youre the second to last person I can talk to about this," Viljam said, hoping that the phrase would allow Yukiko to get the hint.

"Is the last person Chie?" Either Yukiko didn't get the hint or she's ignoring it.

"Yes! This conversation is over," Viljam said turning to leave.

"Okay," Yukiko said simply, causing Viljam to freeze in his tracks. He did not expect that kind of response.

"...You're... not going to pry anymore," Viljam asked in slight disbelief, turning back to Yukiko.

"Not if you're feeling this strongly about it," Yukiko said with a smile.

"...Thanks?" Viljam said questioningly.

Yukiko giggled at Viljam's unsure response. "Oh! I just remembered, would you like to know what Tanabata Festival is about," Yukiko said, changing the subject.

"Huh? Why do you ask," Viljam asked, a little surprised at the complete change of topic.

"I just thought you would like to know now," Yukiko said sincerely. At Viljam's contemplating look, Yukiko decided to add something. "It involves folklore," Yukiko added, thinking it would work.

"Okay. Now I'm curious." Hook, line and sinker.

"Sit down and we can start," Yukiko said, patting the tatami mats for emphasis. After Viljam sat down, Yukiko started explaining the origins of Tanabata festival.

* * *

 **AN: Like I said, short. Hopefully you still enjoyed it. Well that is all for now. Also, to those who're looking forward to my one shot collection, I do have something on the works. Fun fact, this was originally meant to be two chapters, but they both came so short in terms of word count that I decided to combine them into one chapter.**

 **Also, sorry for not writing the Tanabata explanation, but I couldn't figure out how to articulate it in a way Yukiko would say. And no I refuse to put it like I was copying it from a textbook or something.**


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

 **AN:Well... Here is one of the chapters I've been dying to write. In terms of word count, longer than I expected, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm making progress.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. August 20th. Evening)**

The rest of the Junes work days didn't have anything worth mentioning as far as Yosuke and Yu were concerned. Viljam on the other hand seemed a little off ever since the day before yesterday. However, no one felt like asking.

Now, however, the guys had arrived at the festival site at Tatsuhime shrine. Of course they were in their casual clothes. And Viljam seemed a little awkward for some reason.

"..Doesn't this place seem less crowded than it should," Yosuke wondered after looking around.

"True. I thought there would be more people," Yu agreed. Inaba was a small town, but there should be more crowd than this.

"Is it because of the murders," Kanji wondered, "People were a little spooked by those."

"But Mitsuo is now in jail, shouldn't that put people at ease," Viljam asked. "Although, I'm not complaining about there being few people," the Finnish boy added. He would've felt a lot more nervous if there was a huge crowd.

"He's not in jail yet," Yosuke muttered in annoyance.

"What?" Came from Viljam and Teddie(the blond boy was out of his costume again).

Yu decided to explain, "Even though Mitsuo was caught, the police are probably still building a case against him. It could take weeks before he's actually behind bars. _And that's ignoring the supernatural aspect of this case_." The last part was added in Yu's head.

"Yeah, but the guy confessed to his crimes, so I wouldn't worry too much," Kanji said, easing Viljam's worries. "'Sides, the guy's not on the loose, so nothing to worry about anymore," the punk added.

"Unless there's a TV that he could-" "Don't say that!" Yosuke interrupted, startling Viljam. The Junes boy let out a sigh, "Look, let's just enjoy ourselves and forget the guy.".

"Yosuke's right," Yu said with a smile, " Let's not let the case ruin this night for us."

Viljam shook his head with a sigh. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry," the Finnish boy apologized.

"Where are the girls," Teddie decided to ask, while scanning the area.

"Yeah, they should've been here already," Yosuke said, as he too made a quick scan.

"Maybe they're still changing clothes," Yu supplied helpfully.

Viljam also looked thoughtful. "I also don't understand why they couldn't do it at Rise's house. I mean, it's closer than the Inn," The Finnish boy said.

"Oh, right. You live at Yuki-chan's place Villy," Teddie said having a certain thought. "Did you check them changing," the blonde boy said innocently. Something that didn't fit the question.

"...Why would I do that," Viljam asked, with a blank stare.

"Dude, why would a guy be attracted to a girl," Yosuke said sarcastically, earning a disapproving look from Kanji and a disappointed one from Yu.

"Anyway...," Viljam said..., "...can you guys show me around a little while we wait?".

Yosuke had a blanched look at Viljam not hearing him... Or maybe he was just ignoring the Junes boy.

"Sure, I could actually go for some ikayaki right now," Kanji agreed quickly.

"What's ikayaki," Viljam and Teddie asked in unison, earning a slight laugh from Yu and Kanji, while Teddie and Viljam looked at each other.

 **(30 minutes later)**

"Okay, where are they," Yosuke asked as he took a quick bite out of the skewer he had.

"I'm starting to wonder myself," Yu added, although he had a different reason.

"How hard is it to put a kimono," Viljam wondered aloud.

"Yukata, not kimono," Kanji corrected.

"What's the difference," Viljam asked, genuinely curious.

"Same difference as casual clothes and a tuxedo," Yu replied for Kanji. Not exactly accurate comparison, but hopefully it'll get the point across.

"Oh." Judging by the look of realization, it did.

"Hey, isn't that them," Teddie exclaimed in excitement.

The guys turned to see the direction Teddie was looking at and there were the girls, plus Nanako. The girls had offered to help Nanako to put on a yukata with the promise of bringing her with them.

"Sorry we took so long," Chie said for everyone. She was wearing a white Yukata with floral patterns. Complete with an orange sash to keep it all together.

"It took us a while to get dressed," Yukiko said in slight embarrassment. Yukiko's yukata is dark blue with white patterns, and her sash is pink.

"We had to wrap towels inside, so that they're not as breezy as people claim," Rise said. Her yukata is red with pink butterfly patterns on it, and an orange sash.

"It's kinda hard to walk," Nanako complained a little. Her yukata consists of a square patterns with two different shades of pink and white, and a red sash.

"It's alright Nanako," Yu said reassuringly, "You look cute in it.".

"I'm head over heels for you Nana-chan," Teddie added in.

"Thanks," the little girl said with a giggle.

"So how do we look, Yu-senpai," Rise asked their silver haired leader.

"You look great," Yu said, though his eyes were on Rise, something that the teen idol noticed.

"Oh yeah, this is great," Yosuke said, eyeing Yukiko and Rise, "Even Satonaka knows how to be pretty.".

"Hey!" Chie didn't like the way Yosuke put it.

"I think you're... p-pretty, Chie-san," Viljam stuttered to Chie, but he averted his eyes from her at the end of the sentence.

"Thanks," Chie said, but she didn't sound like she was complimented.

"Kanji, why're you looking away," Viljam asked the punk, who indeed was looking away from the girls. Anything to divert attention from the Finnish boy himself.

Yosuke snorted a little. "Don't tell me you're ashamed to look. What're you a monk," the Junes boy snickered.

"That ain't it," Kanji protested.

"Dad!" Nanako suddenly exclaimed, gaining everyone's attention. Sure enough, they saw the hard boiled detective of Inaba walking towards them.

"Thanks for taking care of Nanako," Dojima thanked the teens.

"It was nothing, Dojima-san," Chie said cheerfully.

"They bought me cotton candy," Nanako said happily, showing a plastic bag containing the said delicacy.

"Did they now," Dojima said, smiling at his daughter. "Alright, then. You wanna go to the target prac-I mean game," Dojima hastily corrected himself on the last phrase.

"Yeah," Nanako said happily, grabbing her dad's hand.

"I will take care of Nanako from here. You kids have fun," Dojima wished the gang before moving away with Nanako. The little girl gave them a little wave with the hand that was holding the cotton candy bag, and the gang waved back.

"Summer festival huh," Teddie said thoughtfully. Something about the way Teddie said it rang warning bells in most of the gangs' heads. " A couple walking hand in hand... We gotta go two-by-two," Teddie cheered happily.

"What does that mean," Yu dared to ask, somewhat less guarded now.

"It's Summer festival and the girls are wearing yukata. It would be wrong for guys and girls to be in a large group like this," Teddie explained.

"What are you getting at," Viljam asked, not sure if he should be eager or highly suspicious of what Teddie is planning.

"I'm saying, that in order to make great memories, we should go with one girl one guy each," Teddie finished, earning sweat drops from most of the guys and girls.

"I'm with Teddie on this," Rise said, surprising everyone.

Rise-chan," Chie said, not understanding what the girl was thinking.

"Why wear a yukata in the first place, Chie-senpai? To make memories we can look fondly at, right," Rise said cheerfully.

"...She's not wrong," Yukiko said thoughtfully.

"...I don't get it," Viljam said, with a confused look.

"We should pair off right away," Rise added, a little too eagerly for the other two's comfort.

Chie already figured out what the auburn haired girl was after, but she decided to just go with it. "Fine, I guess you're right," Chie said, unable to decide if she was nervous or exasperated.

"I'm fine too," Yukiko added in, with slight embarrassment.

With that decided. "Alright... You guys decide how we should p-pair up," Chie said, feeling a little nervous.

"You're letting us decide," Yu asked, not sure if he heard right.

"Seriously?" Yosuke added his own disbelief.

"Yes," Rise said happily.

"Alright guys come here," Yosuke said eagerly, and the guys moved away to huddle up. "So then, four guys and three girls... Yeah, that might be a problem," Yosuke muttered the last one with slight dismay.

"Aren't you forgetting someone," Teddie asked innocently.

"Yu, me, Viljam and Kanji make four," Yosuke said, like it was obvious.

"WHUH!? No fair," Teddie complained.

"Should I really do this," Kanji muttered to himself.

" Oh right, you could barely look at girls," Yosuke said teasingly.

"NO! I can look at 'em just fine," Kanji retorted angrily.

"Actually, Kanji," Viljam said a little timidly. "Can you sit this one out," The Finnish boy finished, with a nervous tone.

"Whuh?" Yosuke and Kanji sounded in unison.

"And why is that," Yu asked in curiosity.

"Because Yosuke won't do that and you are better than the rest of us," Viljam said, almost like it was a fact.

"But what about me," Teddie asked, sounding offended at not being included.

"No offense, Teddie. But I don't trust you with any of them," Viljam said apologetically.

"He's not wrong," Yosuke agreed, remembering how Teddie was slacking on the job so he could flirt with a passing woman occasionally.

"You're not much better, but you have more common sense," Viljam told Yosuke, earning an offended glare from the Junes boy.

"But guys, I've already made my decision," Teddie complained, earning their attention, "I wanna pair up with Chie-chan, Yuki-chan and Rise-chan.".

"Ted, that's not a pair," Yu said lecturingly, "And if you did that, who would we pair with."

"Damn right!" Yosuke added in, getting annoyed with the blonde. "Besides, you're the one who said, 'one guy one girl each'," the Junes boy added.

"So stay out of this," Kanji added in. "This is a serious-" "That's right, Kanji. This is a serious matter and you're a real man," Teddie interrupted Kanji.

"What're you babbling about," Kanji asked, not understanding what Teddie was getting at.

"A real man, wouldn't prance around with girls in a place like this," Teddie said, earning sweat drops from the other guys.

" _Kanji can't be stupid enough to fall for that,_ " Was the collective thought of the other guys, except Viljam had a Finnish variant.

"Okay...?" They stand corrected.

"Kanji, that's..," Yu was about to say, but Viljam moved closer to elbow the silver haired boy. Yu was about to protest, but stopped himself after Viljam mouthed, "please".

"Okay, you said it Ted," Kanji said, causing the other two to realize that they missed something Teddie said. "Okay, count me out," the punk said with determination.

"Oh well, at least we won't have to fight," Yosuke shrugged. Yu didn't exactly agree with tricking Kanji like this, but that solved one problem.

"We've decided," Teddie exclaimed to the girls, earning shocked looks from the guys. "I'm going with all of you," Teddie said happily, before escorting the girls, who were too befuddled to protest, away.

"Why that no good little...!" Yosuke growled, not even sure if he knew a word that could effectively describe Teddie.

"...I can't believe he duped us," Yu said, feeling almost ashamed of being tricked by Teddie of all people.

"Kuristan tuon karhun," Viljam growled, before moving to follow them, only to be stopped by Yu.

"What're you planning to do," Yu asked with worry, noticing that Viljam looked very angry.

"I'm going to kill that little monster," Viljam said icily, which gave the others chills.

"As much as we all hate Teddie right now, that doesn't solve anything," Yu said, hoping to pacify the angry Finnish.

"Why does he..., never mind," Viljam said, standing down, but everyone could tell that he was far from forgiving Teddie.

"HEY! TEDDIE!" the guys heard Rise yelling. "Why're you buying another idol's photo!? Mine's there too!" It sounded like Rise was not happy with Teddie.

"HEY! HANDS OFF MY CORN!" Neither was Chie.

"On sillä otsaa," Viljam growled, wishing to strangle the bear again. "Guys, do you know of a place where I could dump the body without anyone finding it," Viljam asked the guys, sounding very grim.

"No," Yu answered quickly, knowing full well what body he had in mind.

"I wish I could say yes, but I can't," Yosuke added in with more regret than genuine concern.

"Teddie! You got ketchup on my yukata!" And that was Yukiko.

"He steals the girls and doesn't even know how to treat them," Yosuke commented, still angry at the bear, "The nerve!"

With that their ruined evening continued.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 21st. Daytime)**

Vijam was depressed. Yesterday, his hopes went up when that accursed Teddie suggested about the pairing off. He wanted to go with Chie, but then the bear decided to ruin his life. Okay maybe that was too strong phrase, but this was the only time Viljam could've had time with Chie like that. Why did that bear have to be so selfish now!?

Sad thing is, through out yesterday, Viljam didn't stop planning how to murder that wretched bear. Unfortunately, all plans had one crucial flaw, he couldn't figure out a foolproof way of disposing the body.

Now, Viljam was sitting in his room, watching TV. Or that's what he was planning to do if there came anything interesting. Sadly, no dice. Oh well, thankfully for Teddie, the Finnish boy at least gave up on murder plans.

Then, Viljam heard his phone ring, and reached for the small table to pick it up. "Chie?" Viljam sounded almost happy, before answering. "Hello."

" _Hey, Nousku-kun,_ " Chie replied from her end of the line. " _You know..., that festival is going to be on today too... Would you l-like to come,_ " Chie asked, stammering at the end.

.

.

.

" _Hey. You in there?_ "

Viljam rapidly shook his head out of the stupor. "Yeah, yeah! Sorry! I just... Did you ask me to come to the festival just now," Viljam asked, wanting to be sure he heard right.

" _Uhh... Yeah,_ " Chie said, sounding a little weirded out. " _Look, if you don't want to come then-_ " "NO!" Viljam shouted, before realizing his mistake, "I mean, yes! I want to come... If you want," Viljam said nervously, mentally kicking himself for his outburst and his poor attempt at correcting himself.

"... _Okay, meet me at the festival, at 18:30,_ " Chie said, causing Viljam to release a sigh of relief discreetly.

"I'll be there," Viljam said, and with that, the two exchanged farewells for now. "JES!" Viljam couldn't help cheering. "SIITÄS SAIT TED!" Was the last thing Viljam cheered loudly, before deciding to calm down. Or at least try to, after all, this was his only chance. He had to make it count.

 **(Dojima household. Roughly the same time)**

"So at 19:00 right," Yu said to the phone, "Shall I pick you from your house, or do you want to meet at the festival?"

" _You don't have to pick me Senpai,"_ Rise said from her end of the line, " _My house is practically next to the shrine, so I'll be waiting for you at the festival._ "

"Alright, see you then," Yu said to the phone.

" _See you,_ " was Rise's happy response, before they hung up.

"Maybe I should've expected this," Yu said with a smile. Still, it was nice that Rise invited him to the festival again. Teddie's stunt, combined with Viljam's attitude since the said stunt, kind of ruined the experience for him. Yu almost told Viljam to do better bext time, but was able to stop himself, when he realized that there won't be a next time for Viljam. Still doesn't excuse his attitude, but Yu wasn't going to hold that over him too much.

Anyway, Yu had few hours to kill before going to the festival.

 **(Inaba. August 21st. Evening)**

It was few minutes until 18:30, and Viljam was a nervous wreck. But you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at him. He looked very calm, but on the inside, his mind was already going through everything that could possibly go wrong. One thought included a lightning bolt striking him out of nowhere. Yes, that's how nervous he was.

"Hey." Viljam almost jumped at hearing Chie greet him, but he resisted.

"Hi," Viljam said simply, but then he took a good look at Chie. She was once again, wearing her yukata. "I didn't expect you to wear that again," Viljam said in surprise.

That earned a frown. "I know this might not suit me, but I just felt like it," Chie said with mild annoyance.

"No, no. I just got the impression that putting that on was difficult," Viljam corrected himself.

Chie nodded, but didn't look like she fully bought it. "So how do I look then, and please be honest this time," Chie said firmly. Yesterday, something about Viljam's phrase didn't sound convincing, but Chie couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Viljam blushed a little, before taking a few calming breaths. "...I wasn't... comfortable saying this with the others around, bbut you look... beautiful," Viljam said, unable to hold back the blush at the last word.

Chie couldn't help smiling at the compliment, because this time she felt that Viljam was telling the truth. "Thanks," Chie said, unable to keep the happiness from her words. "Come on, let's get in there," Chie then said cheerfully before moving up the steps, with Viljam catching up.

 **(30 minutes later)**

Yu had just arrived at the shrine steps. As agreed, Rise was waiting there. To Yu's surprise, she was wearing her yukata.

"You didn't have to dress up," Yu said honestly, not that he minded.

"No, but I wanted to," Rise said happily. "And don't think I didn't notice you eyeing me, when you complimented us yesterday," the auburn haired girl added slyly.

"You got me," Yu said, not bothering to hide it. "So, shall we go," Yu asked looking forward to this. Rise didn't need to be asked twice either.

 **(With Viljam and Chie)**

"So, what did you wish for," Chie asked, as they were moving from the shrine. It took a little convincing to make him participate though, because the Finnish boy felt like he was intruding on a religion he wasn't raised by. Chie laughed at Viljam's worries, before assuring him it was fine.

"Umm... I wished the best for my family back home, and for Yukiko," Viljam replied, in slight embarrassment. A half-truth, because he made one more on a whim that he's too embarrassed to tell anyone.

"I wished the same," Chie said with a smile, "For my parents, Yukiko and all our friends.". Then Chie blushed a little, "And you of course.".

"Thanks," Viljam said, not sure if he felt grateful for being singled out or down right giddy.

"Anyway, next we're drawing fortune slips," Chie said, as she led Viljam to a stone stand left of the shrine. That stand had a box with multiple slips of paper. "We each draw one slip, and that represent our luck this year," Chie explained, while putting her hand above the box, ready to take one slip.

"Okay," Viljam said, nodding in understanding, before preparing to draw his own slip.

The two drew their fortune slips, but Viljam briefly glanced at Chie, before drawing his own.

"Normal blessing," Chie said, sounding mildly disappointed. "What did you get," the yukata clad girl asked Viljam, whose eyes were wide.

"...Great blessing," Viljam said in disbelief.

"Wow, you got lucky," Chie said, happy for him. "Were you thinking about something when you picked that," Chie asked out of curiosity.

Viljam visibly flinched at the question. "Wh-why do you ask," the Finnish boy stuttered.

"Because some people do that," Chie said, slightly suspicious of Viljam's reaction.

"Well... I didn't think of anything," Viljam said, blushing in embarrassment and looking away.

Chie didn't buy it, but decided not to press the issue. No point in making Viljam feel anymore uncomfortable than he already was. Besides, Chie had to make sure that he at least enjoys himself. "Okay, let's move on," Chie said, while lightly patting Viljam's back for emphasis. With that, the two moved on.

"Hey, young lady," a man that was manning a candy apple stall called, earning Chie's attention. "Can I interest you in some candy apples," the man said, gesturing to the said apples that were dipped in some suryp," You could even share one with your boyfriend.".

That phrase made the two freeze and blush furiously. "W-we're not a couple. We're just... We're just friends," Chie said in embarrassment.

The shopkeeper looked a little disappointed, "Oh, sorry. My mistake. Anyway, would you be interested."

"Sure," Viljam said with a shrug, "You want some Chie-san?".

"I can pay myself," Chie said, not wanting to take advantage of Viljam.

"It's fine. It's only one extra," The Finnish boy said dismissively. Chie didn't need anymore convincing.

After Viljam bought a candy apple for each of them, the two decided to move towards a bench that was slightly away from the crowd. Unbeknownst to them though, if they had stayed a few seconds longer, they would've been seen by Yu and Rise, who took their time at the stalls before moving to the shrine itself.

 **(With Yu and Rise)**

"I'm so glad we could be here, just the two of us," Rise said, feeling happier than she let on. Which wasn't by much, mind you.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry we couldn't stop Teddie," Yu apologized. Rise had already questioned why Teddie was the one the girls had to settle for. So Yu gave her the short explanation about the bear screwing them over.

"It's fine. At least we get to come here second time," Rise said, giggling at the story about Teddie's evil plan. Then the girl donned a more serious expression, "Is Nousku-senpai, seriously planning to kill Teddie?".

Yu sighed at the question. Maybe he should've left that part out. "I doubt it. But I fear he will hold a grudge on the bear for a while," Yu said with certainty. One thing was for sure, the bear should probably stay away from the Finnish boy, for his own sake.

"Well. If you had your way, which one would you have picked," Rise asked with a smile.

If the other girls had been around, Yu would be in trouble. However, now it was just Rise, so. "...I would've picked you most likely," Yu said, though he didn't sound very sure.

"Really," Rise said, with a suspicious look. At this point the silver haired boy cursed his poker face failing. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter," Rise said, surprising Yu. "We're here now and that's all that matters right now," Rise said with a smile.

Yu couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Are you teasing me right now," Yu had to ask.

"Maaaybe," Rise said with an innocent look, which made Yu roll his eyes in amusement. "Anyway, what are you going to wish for," Rise asked, just as they arrived at the shrine.

"...I honestly didn't plan to," Yu answered sincerely.

Rise was surprised, but she didn't show it, "Why not?"

"Because... I never had much faith in wishing at a shrine," Yu said with a sigh. "Except...," Yu trailed off, thinking if he should tell Rise that one wish he made when he was younger. One that never came true, until he came to Inaba. "Never mind." Yu decided not to.

"...It's alright Senpai," Rise said, feeling a little bad for making the boy think of something that didn't seem pleasant. "I'm sorry that I asked. But..., you could try making one right now. it doesn't even have to be anything big," the auburn haired girl said in an effort to cheer her crush up.

Yu chuckled a little, "I guess I could.". With that, the two made their wishes. Yu almost laughed at his own wish, due to how stupid it sounded. He wished to be able to understand Rise a little better.

After making their wishes, the two decided to move on. Though Rise was hiding a mischievous smile that was caused by her wish.

 **(With Viljam and Chie)**

Chie and Viljam had finished their candy apples, and were just talking about things, such as Viljam's experience in Inaba. It was funny that the strangest thing for the Finnish boy was the fact that the sun had already set, even though it wasn't even 10:00 PM. Due to Finland's position on the globe, during summers it wouldn't be this dark until about midnight. During winters on the other hand, it got dark as early as 4 PM. That was something that surprised Chie a little. But not as much as the fact that if you go north enough in Finland, you might end up past the point where it never gets dark. During summer that is.

Now the two were mostly quiet, but Viljam seemed to be thinking about something, and Chie couldn't figure out what.

"Why did you choose me," Viljam suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Chie didn't understand the question.

"Why did you invite me to come here with you," Viljam rephrased his question.

The white yukata clad girl was not prepared for that kind of question. "Uhhh... No reason," Chie said, trying to sound normal. "I mean..., I thought you should have as good experience as possible, right," Chie corrected herself when she realized how lame the first one sounded, "After all, there's no next time for you, right?" And now Chie felt a pang after that sentence.

Viljam gave Chie a grateful smile, "Thanks. You're so nice." And that made Chie feel a little better. Viljam took a deep breath, "Hey, back in April... why did you approach me?"

"Huh? Why are you asking that," Chie asked, wondering where this was going.

"...I just... I want to know why you would approach someone like me," Viljam said with some difficulty.

Now Chie shook her head again. "You and Narukami-kun were new. I thought I should welcome you two somehow," Chie said, remembering that day. "Besides, I thought you were awesome for talking back to King Moron," the yukata clad girl said with a laugh.

Viljam blushed in embarrassment,"...I still question what made me think it was a good idea.".

"Come on, he was insulting your home. You had every right to get angry," Chie said while patting Viljam's shoulder lightly.

"Maybe, but that almost cost me my life, if you hadn't saved me," Viljam spoke, while chuckling nervously.

"What do you mean, 'kill' you," Chie asked, remembering what the Finnish boy said back then.

"...B-because I had heard that the teachers in Japan are allowed to do horrible things," Viljam said, clearly embarrassed.

"AHHHAAHAHAHAH!" And now Viljam's shoulders slumped. "Sorry *ahahaha*," Chie apologized through her laughing. What kind of image does Finland have of Japanese schools? Also, King Moron might've been an A-hole but even he wouldn't have done something like that.

"Are you done yet," Viljam asked, slowly getting annoyed at Chie's laughter. Sure, it was stupid of him to believe that kind of hear say for even an instant, but it wasn't that funny.

"Yeah," Chie said, but she still let out a couple snickers. "You look so cute right now," Chie commented on Viljam's pouting look. Which was replaced by surprise.

"..Täh?! I- wh-" Viljam stammered, unable to come up with words to speak, "...Where did that come from!?"

Now Chie laughed again. "Oh! So you can dish out phrases like that, but can't take them," Chie laughed, probably enjoying this more than she should. Now she got payback for all the times Viljam embarrassed her.

"I'm not used to hearing compliments like that, okay," Viljam retorted, blushing furiously and wishing to be swallowed by the ground. "Family doesn't count, because that's in their job description," Viljam said, before Chie could say anything that probably included his sisters.

Chie frowned a little at not getting another word in. Oh well, at least she forgot to be embarrassed about calling Viljam cute this time. "Well, now you know how I felt," Chie said with a smug smile.

Now Viljam sighed again. "You're so full of yourself," Viljam said, like it was a fact. Chie was about to retort, but Viljam beat her to it," But I guess... that's one of the reasons I like you." And now Viljam found the ground very interesting.

"What?" Chie wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"You heard me, Chie-san," Viljam said, unable to repeat himself or meet the girl's gaze, due to embarrassment.

"Are you serious?" Chie wasn't sure if she felt extatic or nervous. Maybe both.

Viljam had to calm his breathing, before he was able to give his shaky answer, "...y-yes."

"...Since when," Chie asked, part of her wondering why he would like her.

"...I don't know," Viljam admitted in shame. "I just... I can't put my finger on when I started to like you," the increasingly flustered Finnish boy said.

Chie had to stop to think. " _He likes me? Dammit! Yukiko was right all along,_ " Chie thought quickly, and that's not even counting Yosuke teasing her about it. "Was it... because I saved you," Chie asked with some dread. It's not that Chie had anything against it, but she didn't want Viljam to like her because he felt like he owed her.

"...No, that's when I realized that... *sigh* Sorry I don't know how to say it," Viljam said with a sigh, still not looking at Chie.

"Nousku-kun," Chie said, before lightly forcing him to face her, "The thing is... I... might like you too." Despite having a blush that rivaled Yukiko's cardigan in color, Chie was able to keep eye contact.

If Viljam's heart wasn't hammering before, it was definitely doing that now. "...Would you... l-like to...be my g-girlfriend," Viljam was able to say, even though he still felt like this was too good to be real.

"...A-are you sure...," Chie said, still nervous, "T-this is me we're talking about." Chie already heard that Viljam likes her, but that was something she had to say.

"Umm...Yeah? That's... why I'm asking _you,_ " Viljam said, putting emphasis on "you".

"Yes!" Chie exclaimed happily. Then Viljam wrapped Chie into an embrace. "Whuh!? Hey!" Chie protested, but didn't struggle.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I was afraid you would say no," Viljam said, not releasing the tight, yet somehow still light hug.

"...Dummy," Chie retorted halfheartedly, before returning the hug awkwardly.

If anyone were to see them now, they would see a loving couple in a loving embrace. Thankfully, though the bench was far enough that unless someone was interested in anything besides the stalls, they wouldn't be noticed. Chie was enjoying the feeling of Viljam's arms around her, and the warmth coming off of him through the black shirt he had bought in Okina. Or maybe the warmth she was feeling came from herself. Chie wasn't sure, and she didn't care right now. Viljam was also enjoying Chie's arms around his own midsection, and her cheek lightly resting against his Finnish boy moved his own cheek to lightly rest on the top of Chie's head, and her hair.

Then the Finnish boy felt a vibration in his jeans that nearly snapped him out of the moment. Still, he was able to discern that the vibration came from his pant pocket. That would mean, his phone had a new message, but that isn't important right now. What was important, was this moment that he did not want to end. Unfortunately, some evil creature decided to break it, by calling on his phone.

"Can you please just ignore it," Chie mumbled, apparently not wanting this to end anytime soon either.

"Sorry, but I have to at least check," Viljam said, though he wasn't anymore happy about this. With great reluctance, Viljam and Chie let go of each other, so that Viljam could see who the caller was. But as soon as Viljam saw the screen of his phone, the call ended. "Huh? It ended now?" Viljam felt anger and confusion. Anger at the caller bailing out now after ending their moment, and confusion at the call ending a little too quickly.

"Was that a prank call," Chie said, sounding very annoyed. Actually, that was borderline anger.

"Looks that-Huh? A message?" Viljam said after seeing the notice of a missed call and a message. That must've been what caused the vibration in his pocket.

"What is it," Chie said, but she didn't really care.

Soon enough, Viljam opened the message, and his eyes widened in shock.

"What is it," Chie asked, now worried about what caused that reaction.

"Voi ei," Viljam said, and looked up from his phone. Then he looked like something horrible just happened.

"What is it," Chie asked more urgently, before following his gaze. And then the girl's face took the same horrified expression.

There, not too far from them, were Rise and Yu. Yu was currently hiding his face with one hand, while Rise was waving at them happily with her left hand, while her right one was holding her phone.

"Y-y-you! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE!?" Chie screeched from embarrasment and anger. Viljam put his phone in front of Chie's face, allowing the flustered girl to see a picture of them embracing one another. It didn't take long for the Kung Fu loving girl to put two and two together. Rise had taken the picture with her phone and sent it to Viljam.

The white yukata clad girl stood up angrily and stomped to Rise and Yu, causing Rise's smiling face to morph into a fearful one. " _Why did I do this again?_ " was the thought that went through the auburn haired girl's head that she probably should've asked before doing this. "Look, Chie-senpai! I can explain," Rise quickly tried to say, while waving her hands frantically.

"I don't want to hear it!"

Yu shook his head, looking just as fearful as Rise, "I told you this wouldn't end well."

"And I didn't listen," Rise replied in fear.

"Chie-san, wait," Viljam said, hoping that he could stop the girl from doing something stupid.

Bad move. "Why the heck should I!? They spied on us twice already!" Chie shouted angrily, but she instantly snapped out of it when Viljam closed his eyes in fear. "Nousku-kun..., I'm sorry... I," Chie tried to apologize, but wasn't sure what she could say to justify her outburst.

Viljam opened his eyes carefully, and saw the look of panic on Chie's face. "...It's fine," the Finnish boy said, slightly relieved that his new girlfriend's anger subsided, " It's just..., brutal beat-down isn't going to help here.".

Chie was inclined to disagree, but didn't want to argue with him right now. "So what should we do," Chie asked, giving a look to still scared Rise and worried Yu.

"You two don't talk about us, and we won't talk about you," Viljam said to the couple in front of them.

"And... what would be so wrong with that," Rise said, carefully. She was still afraid of Chie.

"How about the fact that if some of your fans heard about it, they might murder Yu-san," Viljam said with an evil smile.

"What," Yu said, getting a little worried himself.

"B-but I'm not an idol anymore," Rise said, but was clearly affected by Viljam's words.

Viljam looked surprised for a moment, before focusing on the task at hand. "Maybe, but how many of your fans know this? I happen to have heard that in that line of work, you're not allowed to have a boyfriend," Viljam added in, earning surprised looks from all three of them.

"But..." Rise had to stop to think, before the idea hit her, "I'm not an idol anymore, I can have a boyfriend if I want." At the last part, Rise had a faint blush.

Viljam shook his head with a pitying look. "Again, do your fans know that? I didn't know that, so I doubt they would. So unless you want to risk Yu-san's life at the hands of your fans, you will not speak of this event. Ever," Viljam threatened with an evil look.

"I... I promise, just please don't tell anyone," Rise said in fear. The former idol knew that she shouldn't believe Viljam, but unfortunately her experience with just stalkers doesn't allow her to just dismiss his words.

"I promise too," Yu added in. He wasn't as worried as Rise, but better safe than sorry. Although he had to wonder, where this malicious side of Viljam came from.

"Good," Viljam said happily as if he hadn't just threatened their lives indirectly, "You two enjoy the festival. I know I will.".

"Let's go," Yu told Rise, who didn't need to be told twice and practically dragged Yu away by his arm.

Few seconds, after Viljam lost sight of Yu and Rise, he released a breath that he was secretly holding. "*phew*...I can't believe that actually worked," the Finnish boy said while chuckling a little.

Chie looked confused for a moment, before realizing what Viljam meant. "You were... making it up," she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Viljam said, sounding proud of himself. "I could've added gory details, but that might've been too much," The Finnish boy said with a snicker.

Chie was about to scold him for scaring Rise like that, but considering what she almost did herself, decided against it. Though that raised one question, "How do you know about idol industry?".

"Yosuke told me," Viljam said, having half a mind to thank Yosuke the next time he meets the Junes boy.

Chie nodded in acceptance. It wouldn't be strange for the Junes boy to "educate the ignorant one", as he put it. "You still didn't have to threaten Narukami-kun," Chie scolded a little. Sure Yu also saw them, but the silver haired leader didn't look like he was in this of his own will.

Viljam looked a little guilty. "Yeah, but I'm not sure if Rise would've preferred hearing what the craziest of her fans would do to her _self_ instead," Viljam said, looking mildly uncomfortable, "Please don't ask what, because I don't feel comfortable saying it. Much less thinking." The Finnish boy shuddered while shaking his head to rid himself of an image that he didn't like.

"...Okay," Chie said, mildly concerned for Viljam's thought process. "So..., wanna try one of the games again," Chie asked, hoping to get the Finnish boy out of said thought process.

"Sure," Viljam responded happily, "Which one?"

"Just follow me," Chie said, as she linked her hand with Viljam's and led him away. Having a faint blush at holding his hand like this. Though if she had looked, Chie would've noticed Viljam having a similar coloring.

 **(With Rise and Yu)**

"Did we lose him," Rise asked, finally daring to look back. The auburn haired girl had almost dragged Yu all the way out of the festival area.

"Lose him? Rise-chan, I think you're overreacting," Yu said, feeling concern. Even though Viljam might be right to an extent, the silver haired boy was pretty sure the Finnish boy was making it all up.

"Overreacting? How is worrying about your life overreacting," Rise nearly shouted in distress.

Yu put his hands on Rise's shoulders and forced her to face him fully. "Rise-chan. Calm down," Yu said, trying to sound stern, but comforting.

That seemed to work, because Rise stopped shaking. "...I'm sorry Senpai, but... I wish I could just dismiss what Nousku-senpai said, but things like that have happened," Rise said, not exactly okay, but better.

Yu was a little surprised at hearing that. Sure, some fans might be crazy, but those are few and far between... At least they should be. "Maybe, but I doubt Viljam truly meant what he said. He probably just wanted us to keep quiet about his and Satonaka-san's relationship, whatever it is," Yu said, adding a slightly humorous tone at the end.

"Maybe you're right," Rise sighed in relief. For some reason, Yu managed to be very reassuring when he spoke. "But what do you mean, by 'whatever it is'? They looked pretty lovey-dovey to me," Rise then giggled, already getting to her usual self

"I'd rather not jump into conclusions," Yu replied, before admitting, "But it did look that way.".

"Well, it's a shame that we can't talk to anyone else about it," Rise sighed, "I mean, I believe you about him not being serious, but I'm not going to take chances.".

" _Smart choice,_ " Yu thought. "Let's just forget that, and enjoy the rest of the festival," The silver haired boy said, wanting Rise to enjoy the time they had now.

"Okay, Senpai," Rise said, happily.

With that, they returned to the festival, although Rise hoped she didn't see Viljam again.

 **(Dojima household. August 21st. Evening)**

Yu had fun at the festival. Even though him and Rise ran into Chie and Viljam a few times. Though it looked like they were just focusing on their own date. Yu couldn't resist the chuckle at the thought. Though that left him wondering, could his time with Rise be considered a date?

"...Do I want to think of it that way," Yu wondered, mostly out of curiosity. Those thoughts were interrupted by a ringing phone. Yu checked the caller ID, that belonged to Viljam. " _What does he want now?_ "

"Hello." Yu answered casually.

" _...Hey,_ " was the subdued reply, which caused Yu to raise an eyebrow. " _Sorry about saying what I did, back at the festival,_ " Viljam said, awkwardly, " _I just... I didn't want Rise to yell this to everyone._ ".

"I figured it was something like that. It's fine," Yu said dismissively. "But I think Rise-chan was more scared than I was." Yu added with fake accusation.

" _...Maybe I shouldn't have done that,_ " Viljam lamented.

"What's done is done. You didn't have to call me just to say sorry," Yu said, even though he had a feeling that there was more to it.

" _Well... That's not not the only reason I called,_ " Viljam said, sounding awkward.

" _I knew it,_ " Yu thought. "Really? Was there something else," the silver haired boy asked.

" _...Ööö... What do people do on dates,_ " Viljam asked nervously.

Yu's eyes widened at the question. On one hand, Chie and Viljam hugging each other gave the impression of an intimate moment. On the other hand, Yu didn't expect them to become a couple this soon. "So you and Sat-" " _Yes! Chie and I are dating now. Moving on_ ," Viljam interrupted so quickly that Yu almost didn't catch it. "Alright," Yu said, feeling that Viljam didn't want to discuss this in too much detail. "Some people go to movies, some go to dinner dates. Or do whatever both like," Yu supplied helpfully. Although this information was based on standard assumption and personal opinion, Yu felt confident in his answer.

" _Okay, I might have to check on a few movies in Okina. But the dinner thing might be a problem,_ " Viljam said.

"What's wrong with Aiya's," Yu asked, knowing full well that Chie loved that place.

" _Too easy. I want to surprise her,_ " Viljam replied, " _Pleasantly of course._ " was added hastily.

Yu nodded in acceptance. "Like when you cooked for her," Yu said, unable to resist light teasing.

" _...Yeah, I don't feel like doing that again anytime soon,_ " Viljam said awkwardly.

"Why not? It was a success from what I heard," Yu asked.

" _Well... That's not important. What's important, is that I need to think of something else soon,_ " Viljam said, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

Yu sighed a little, but decided to stick to the topic anyway, "Listen, you're not in a hurry. If you rush this, something is bound to go wrong," Yu explained, while sitting on the couch in his room, "Besides, there's always a chance that she might call you later."

" _...You may be right, but I still want to do the best I can,_ " Viljam said, sounding calmer somehow, " _She deserves it._ "

Yu couldn't help smiling at that line. Sure, it was a little cheesy, but that line held Viljam's resolve. "If you say so," Yu shrugged.

" _Yeah. By the way, are you and Rise a couple now?_ " Of course he had to ask that.

"We're done here," Yu said, before cutting the call and shutting down his phone for good measure. Sure that was immature, but Yu felt like he had the right to do that just this one time. After all, the Finnish boy had done it twice. "No we're not," Yu said with a chuckle. "Though... That depends on, how things go from here," the silver haired boy added as an after thought.

 **(Satonaka Household. August 21st. Roughly the same time)**

"None of your business!" Chie practically shouted into her phone. The Kung Fu loving girl had already changed from the yukata to her nightwear, which consisted of a simple tank top and short shorts.

" _Come on, Chie-senpai. I said I'm sorry,_ " Rise whined from her end of the line, " _You have to give me details._ ". Yeah, Rise had called Chie to interrogate about her date with Viljam. Why Chie didn't shut off the phone was beyond her at the moment.

"I don't have to give you anything after spying on us," Chie said angrily, "And if you dare ask again, I will go through with Nousku-kun's threat.". That last sentence came out of anger. Anger that Chie will probably feel bad about later, but right now she felt like she had every right to strangle Rise if she were here.

" _You wouldn't!_ " Rise was already afraid of Viljam, but having Chie do that too. That was terrifying. Also in her current mind-set, Chie might even make up some... steamy details.

"Try me," Chie dared.

After a moment of silence, Rise spoke. " _Look. I'm sorry I ruined your moment, but at least you have a picture to remember it,_ " Rise said in an attempt to pacify the currently enraged Satonaka.

"How would you feel if I ruined your moment with Narukami-kun," Chie snarked.

" _...I get your point,_ " Rise sighed in defeat, " _Look, I'm sorry I intruded on your moment, but you two just looked so cute that I couldn't resist._ ".

Chie couldn't help but feel her heartbeat increase ever so slightly, but that doesn't mean she wasn't angry. "I wanted to stay that way just a little longer," Chie said, now feeling more annoyed than angry.

" _Again, I'm sorry. Look, if I send that picture to you too, would you forgive me then,_ " Rise asked carefully.

"Yeah, right," Chie snarked, before having a thought. "Actually, delete it now, or else...," Chie let the threat hang.

" _Fine!_ " And the call was cut.

Chie blinked. She could've sworn Rise actually cried with that last shout. "Did I really make her feel that bad," Chie couldn't help but wonder. And now she herself felt bad. "Why did I have to snap like that," Chie griped. The truth is she already knew, she was afraid of Rise teasing her about her "relationship". Air quotes on relationship, because it still felt weird even thinking that. Did she regret saying yes to Viljam? No. But now she realized a few problems that come with this. One, if Yosuke finds out, he'll never let her hear the end of it. Two, what would Yukiko think? She seemed okay with it, but Chie couldn't help but worry that her best friend might not approve for whatever reason.

"Don't think too much," Chie repeated Kasai's words which have become a mantra by this point. Though what she should think about was, where this would go.

* * *

 **AN: And there it is! I finally officially started this ship. Yeah, yeah OC pairing is soooooooooooo original, I know.**

 **Anyway, in case people are wondering, when it comes to shipping Yu, I'm torn between Yukiko and Rise. I mean, I've already decided where this is going, but if I had to choose which one is an OTP, that would be impossible. I know some people think Rise is a bad character, but personally I find her amusing. Yukiko is the "easy" one, and by that, I mean easy to ship to Yu. Not that it's a bad thing, I can see it happening. However, my point stands, Rise or Yukiko are the most likely to be shipped to Yu, in my opinion anyway. But my personal favorite and... Dare I say it... waifu, is Chie. You can start mocking me in the reviews or PM.**

 **To more serious matters, this is my first attempt at romance scene. I hope I didn't make it too sappy. Though I still doubt I'm writing kissing scenes anytime soon.**


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

 **AN: ...I was tempted to add a little something, but then I checked the word count... Yeah, I think that's enough.**

 **Anyway, to those of you who don't know: I did a little translation experiment in my one shot collection, and I got positive feed back from it. So I'll be testing it here. If I get more positive feed back or no feed back at all(No feed back means no complaints) I might switch to this... I might have to rewrite some of my earlier chapters though.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. August 22nd. Morning)**

Feeling bad about yesterday, Chie decided to head to Rise's place to apologize. Even though, she had hard time thinking about what to say.

Chie didn't have much time to think anymore, because she had just made it to Rise's house. "You can do this," Chie said to herself, trying not to get cold feet, "Just go in there, and apologize for threatening her life." That latter one was an exxageration, but she might as well have.

After one last moment of hesitation, Chie entered the Tofu shop, which doubled as a house. Rise's grandmother was already manning the shop, before she noticed Chie. "Oh, Chie-chan. What brings you here," the old lady asked kindly.

Chie took one more calming breath before answering, "Is Rise-chan here? I need to talk to her.".

The old lady chuckled, "But of course. Rise-chan! A friend of yours is here!".

It didn't take long for Rise to come down. Judging by her clothing and a little disheveled hair, she had woken up minutes ago. At the sight of Chie, Rise turned away to get away.

"Rise-chan, wait! I'm sorry I got angry," Chie managed to call after Rise, who stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I'm just...," Chie started, glancing at Rise's grandmother nervously. It didn't take long, before the old woman realized that this was private.

"I can't stay in the back too long," Rise's grandmother said before moving into the apartment portion of the shop.

With the old woman gone, Chie felt more comfortable. "This is... this whole dating thing is still so new to me," Chie began, "I'm... well a little scared that I will screw this up somehow, and the threat of Hanamura teasing me about it doesn't help.". Chie paused to see how Rise reacted, but the auburn haired girl didn't turn around. "When you and Narukami-kun saw us, I was afraid that you would tell everyone. If that had happened..., I don't think I could take Hanamura's teasing," The green clad girl finished.

Rise stood still for a moment, before turning to face Chie. She had slightly downed look, but not really angry or depressed. "I guess I can understand that," Rise sighed, before having a more serious look "I'm sorry too, but you still didn't have to threaten Yu-senpai."

Chie almost retorted that it was Viljam who did that, but decided against it. Besides, she kinda did last night. "Yeah... Say..., would any of your fans actually go that far," Chie asked, just for the peace of her mind.

"I don't know," Rise replied honestly. "I mean, I know what half of them are thinking whenever I get on stage, but... I want to have at least that much faith in people," Rise said, not wanting to believe that her fans would go that far. Even if part of her acknowledges the possibility.

"Okay," Chie said, not really relievedm, but not too worried either. "So... Are we friends again," Chie asked, still unsure if they were cool.

That made Rise blink, "When did we stop being friends?"

Then Chie started laughing. She couldn't help it, she was just that relieved that Rise didn't hate her. But then she had a serious expression, "Rise-chan, can you still not tell anyone, please."

Rise couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "Of course," the auburn haired girl said while smiling.

At that, Chie released a sigh of relief. Then she blushed lightly, for what she was going to ask next, "Do you... still have that picture?".

"What? Oh that! Sorry, but as soon as I ended the call I deleted it like you wanted," Rise said, not even sorry about it. Rise almost teased about the irony, but since Chie looked a little crestfallen, she decided against it. "Though, Nousku-senpai should still have the one I sent him," Rise supplied helpfully.

That made Chie perk up, before blushing. "...I don't know if I can ask him," Chie said, wondering how he would react to it.

"I'm sure he'll send you a copy if you ask," Rise said cheerfully, attempting to cheer the girl up.

"...Maybe," Chie muttered, still not sure if she should ask. Then she made up her mind. "Okay, I'll do it," Chie said, filled with determination.

"Go for it," Rise couldn't help but cheer.

With that, Chie ran off. Possibly to Amagi Inn... or maybe just a more private place to call her boyfriend.

Regardless, Rise went to the back and told her grandmother they were done. She still couldn't believe how long she slept, which is why she looked like she had just gotten out of bed. Then again, her grandmother did say she looked like she had a happy dream. The old lady wasn't far off in her guess, since Rise was dreaming about a possible future with Yu. But then it shifted into a nightmare, when suddenly her fans attacked the Dojima household armed with pitch forks and torches. And Now Rise shivered in terror. She knew that she should get over it, but the seed of terror that Viljam planted was blooming. "I hate him," Rise sighed, more tired than angry.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 23rd. Daytime)**

"You've gotten better, Viljam," commented Yukiko's mother who observed the recently vacuumed room that was freed today.

"Hopefully, it's good enough," Viljam said, unsurely. Currently he was dressed in a blue work kimono, that most of the male workers wore. It took some time for him to get used to, but now he almost feels comfortable in it.

"You worry too much," the older woman said with a smile, "I'm just glad you didn't complain about this arrangement, when I proposed it.".

" _Eilisen huomioon ottaen mulla ei ole oikeutta valittaa_ _ **(Considering yesterday, I have no right to complain)**_ _,_ " Viljam thought, because yesterday evening there was a lot of work to do and he weaseled his way out of it. Well, "weaseled", as in begged Yukiko's mother to be allowed to go to the festival again. It wasn't until he confessed that it was with Chie alone that the older woman relented with a knowing smile. Of course the host-mother threatened to put Viljam into cleaning duty on some of the rooms that would be vacant until later tomorrow. Viljam honestly hated the arrangement at the time, but thought that it would be so worth it, which it was, as far as he was concerned. "Anyway, this was the last room that needed cleaning, right," Viljam asked, hoping this was the case.

The Amagi matriarch shook her head in what almost looked like disappointment. "Yes, but don't think my daughter has let you off the hook yet," the older woman said with a smirk.

Yeah, Viljam remembers. Yukiko looked a little mad about him sneaking out yesterday without saying a word to her. Thankfully, the host-sister had no time to interrogate him today. Although he heard some off-handed comments from the staff about tying him up and force feeding him Yukiko's cooking. Viljam almost felt jealous of that level of care from the other workers alone. "She's gonna kill me with fire," Viljam said, shuddering at the image of Yukiko firing an Agi spell at him.

The Amagi matriarch chuckled at the boy, "I doubt my little girl is capable of something like that.".

" _Jospa tietäisit_ _ **(If you knew)**_ ," Viljam thought, while trying to hide his amusement.

"Mother, is Nousku-kun done with his chores?" And there's the evil where it's mentioned.

"Why yes he is, dear," the Amagi matriarch told her daughter, "Now, then I have my own duties now, so do take care of the rest, Yukiko.". With that, the older woman left.

"I will mother," Yukiko said, while giving a sweet smile to Viljam, who looked scared. As he should.

"Yukiko, I'm sorry I snuck out, but your mother gave me permission," Viljam said quickly.

"Well, why didn't you tell me you wanted to go to the festival again," Yukiko said, sounding offended. "I could've gone with you. Actually, didn't the others wonder why I wasn't there," Yukiko asked the last one with more offense.

"Others? What others," Viljam asked in confusion.

"What others?" Yukiko looked baffled, "Narukami-kun, Hanamura-kun, Chie-" "Didn't your mother tell you," Viljam asked, interrupting Yukiko.

Instead of getting angry at being interrupted, Yukiko looked puzzled, "Tell me what?".

Viljam looked curious, he was pretty sure the Amagi matriarch would've told Yukiko about his... date. That still felt odd for Viljam. "...I only went with Chie," Viljam decided to admit.

Yukiko's eyes widened, before she had a light blush, "...Y-you were on a date with Chie?".

"Please don't say that," Viljam said, feeling the heat rushing to his face.

Yukiko quickly shook her head. "How did you get her to say yes," Yukiko asked.

Now Viljam had a look of panic. "Häh!? Mistä tiesit!? Enhän minä... Enhän **(Huh? How did you know!? I didn't... I didn't)** ," Viljam said frantically.

Yukiko frowned a little. "Nousku-kun, I don't understand what you're trying to say," Yukiko said with mild annoyance. Even though Viljam had been teaching Yukiko Finnish, that doesn't mean she's exactly fluent in it. Much less understand some of the more complicated phrases. Not that Viljam said anything complicated now.

It took a moment for the Finnish boy to gather his wits. "H-H-How did you know," Viljam managed to stutter.

Yukiko gained an uncountable number of question marks at the odd question. "What are you talking about," Yukiko asked, not understanding.

"Uhh... When you asked me, how did I get her to say yes, what did you mean," Viljam asked carefully.

"I meant how did you get Chie to come with you to the festival of course," Yukiko said, wondering how Viljam could not understand something that simple.

"Ai." Viljam said, looking relieved. "I thought you meant... Never mind. It was Chie who invited me," Viljam answered quickly, still embarrassed.

Now, that surprised Yukiko a little, "Oh.". "So uhh... Did you have fun with her," Yukiko asked uncertainly, not sure why she suddenly felt a slight pang in her chest.

"Yes," Viljam said, happily remembering the events of yesterday. Even though Rise went and interrupted their moment.

"I see, that's good," Yukiko said, giving her best fake smile. " _What's wrong with me,_ " Yukiko thought, " _Why do I feel like this?_ ".

"Thanks. Hey, I'm still sorry that I snuck out without telling you," Viljam said, still feeling a little bad for that.

"Mother gave you a permission, so it's okay," the kimono clad girl said, but she still felt a little betrayed.

"Thanks, Yukiko. You're the best," Viljam said, before hugging her lightly. Then he picked up the vacuum cleaner that was still there, and went to put it back where it belonged.

As that happened, Yukiko felt just a little better, but couldn't understand why she felt a little bad in the first place.

 **(Inaba. August 22nd. Daytime)**

Yu had decided to have this day to himself. Right now, he was just wandering Inaba with no real destination in mind. Until he stumbled into Samegawa and had an interesting sighting. Chie was sitting on the stairs that led down to the river bank staring at her phone. Curiosity taking over, Yu snuck behind Chie to see what was so interesting on her phone.

As this was happening, Chie couldn't help sighing again. As she planned before, she managed to call Viljam and ask for a copy of the picture. As difficult as it was to do without becoming a stuttering mess. She can't help herself trying to remember how that moment felt. Now that they're actually... dating(?). Well anyway, moments like these might come across more often, provided she doesn't mess this up somehow. "How did Rise-chan even get a picture this good," Chie wondered for the umpteenth time.

"That's a good question."

"EYAAAK!" Chie cried out, before getting up and delivering a round-house kick behind her out of reflex.

"Whoa!" Yu exclaimed, barely getting out of the kicking range. "It's only me, Satonaka-san," Yu said, while holding his hands in surrender.

"Narukami-kun!? Were you spying on me again," Chie asked defensively.

"I just wondered what you were so facinated about on your phone," Yu said, hoping that Chie wouldn't kill him.

"...Just, don't go and tell everyone," Chie said, trusting Yu to keep quiet about this.

"I won't," Yu said reassuringly. "So, does this mean, you're dating now," Yu decided to ask, causing Chie to flinch.

"...I guess," Chie said in a small voice, before remembering something. "You can't tell anyone, especially Hanamura," Chie said in a stern tone.

"It's not my place to tell anyone about this," Yu said, feeling like Chie was getting a little paranoid about people finding out.

Though his words did earn a sigh of relief from Chie. "Thanks... Say, what should I do now," the green clad girl asked.

"What do you mean," Yu asked, raising an eyebrow at the strange question.

"Should I try acting more... girly now," Chie clarified with a faint blush.

"Did he say that," Yu asked skeptically.

"Whuh? No! I just... I'm not sure if I'm what he expects in a girl," Chie said, while shuffling in place a little.

Yu resisted rolling his eyes, before saying his next piece, "Honestly, I'm not even sure if he's expecting anything. I mean, has he given you a reason to think otherwise," Yu asked, even though he knew full well that Viljam most likely worried about something similar.

"Umm... He... did say that...," Chie started, but couldn't finish it. "Never mind. I think you're right," the green clad girl said instead. Better that, than revealing Viljam's confession in her opinion.

Yu did raise an eyebrow at Chie not giving a proper example, but decided not to pursue. "There you have it. Don't worry too much and just see where this goes," the silver haired boy said with a supporting grin.

"Don't think, feel," Chie said what was pretty much her motto.

That gave Yu an evil smirk. "And you feel that this is so right?" Yu just couldn't resist teasing.

"SHUT UP!" And Yu barely avoided another kick that was aimed too low for his comfort.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 22nd. Evening)**

Viljam was in his room worried again. Scratch that, he's terrified. What is he terrified about? Well, when he was cleared from the chores, he began to once again try to plan a perfect date. Unfortunately, it felt like nothing he could think of was good enough. Which, is part of the reason his mind spiraled into an extremely dark place. One where he feared that he's not good enough. Even couple times thinking about mostly ridiculous worst case scenarios. Like Chie ridding the world of his 'worthlessness'. That's not even the weirdest thing... or dumbest, depending on who you're asking.

Suddenly his phone rang, snapping the paranoid Finnish out of his thoughts with a startled yelp.

After checking the ID, he was a little surprised it was Yosuke. "Hello," Viljam answered the phone.

" _Yeah, hi,_ " Yosuke said rather awkwardly, causing Viljam to raise an eyebrow.

"...Is something wrong," Viljam decided to ask, wondering if something was wrong.

" _...You're not mad at Teddie,_ " Yosuke asked, sounding surprised.

Viljam almost asked why, before he remembered the day before yesterday. He had almost forgotten it. "I still feel like murdering him," Viljam lied. Truth is, while he hasn't forgiven Teddie, Viljam isn't mad at the bear anymore. Lying wasn't nice, but if he didn't give the impression of at least some anger, Yosuke might get suspicious.

Anyway, Yosuke sighed at the comment. " _Look, I know what Teddie did was evil, but can you please not drown him tomorrow,_ " the Junes boy asked, earning question marks from Viljam.

"What do you mean drown," Viljam asked in confusion.

" _Oh right! Forgot to ask,_ " Yosuke said in slight embarrassment, " _Remember the beach trip we talked about? I thought why not tomorrow._ "

VIljam's eyes widened at that. Given the recent events, he had no time to even think that. Although..., "Sounds good to me. Yukiko's mom told me that there wouldn't be much to do tomorrow." Viljam said, sounding very eager about a chance to get to the beach now.

" _Great! That makes three people who can come already,_ " Yosuke exclaimed happily, " _I already asked Yu and he said that he would ask Kanji and Satonaka._ "

"Jassoo **(Is that so)** ," Viljam said, sharing Yosuke's enthusiasm to a lesser extent. "Would you like me to confirm Yukiko. I could text if she says yes," Viljam then offered.

" _Sure, go ahead. And you better remember to text me,_ " Yosuke said, adding the last part jokingly.

"Sure," Viljam said, and with that the two hung up. Then Viljam got off his couch to move towards Yukiko's room.

 **(Few minutes later)**

"Toivottavasti se ei ole siellä missä luulen **(I hope it's not where I think** ," Viljam muttered to himself as he walked down the halls. Yukiko was not in her room. The Finnish boy knocked several times and called out to Yukiko, before opening the door to see the room empty.

Right now, he was going to the one place, where he thought she was at. The kitchen. On one hand, he would have to search again if she wasn't there. On the other hand, he might risk food poisoning.

Sadly, it looks like fate was against him, because he found Yukiko from the kitchen, still in her kimono with an apron to keep it clean from... whatever she was working on. Currently, she was cutting vegetables, while something was boiling in a pot.

The Finnish boy slowly walked towards his black haired host-sister, who seemed to be very focused on what she was doing. "Hei, Yukiko," Viljam said, announcing his presence.

"EEK!" Yukiko shrieked, turning around and brandishing the kitchen knife. This action caused the Finnish boy to freeze in fear. Then Yukiko blinked once. "Don't sneak up on me, Nousku-kun. I could've stabbed you," Yukiko said, while lowering the knife and putting her free hand to her heart.

"It's not like I'm trying. And please tell me you're joking" Viljam said, still a little shaken at the possibility of being stabbed.

"You seem to have a talent for sneaking up on people," Yukiko muttered, now looking mildly annoyed, "Anyway, did you need something?".

"Yosuke called me, suggesting that we go to that beach trip tomorrow," Viljam informed Yukiko, who shook her head a little.

"Chie already told me," Yukiko said flatly, before donning a smile, "Actually, now that you're here could you taste this," Yukiko asked, while pointing towards the pot that somehow managed to look menacing.

"...Uhhh... I don't know," Viljam said, inching away from Yukiko and towards the door planning to make a run for it.

Unfortunately, Yukiko managed to grab the Finnish boy's wrist and drag him towards the pot. "No need to be shy, just try it," Yukiko said, while lifting the lid to reveal brown, boiling and _highly_ suspicious concoction.

"Wh-what is that," Viljam asked, sounding scared.

Yukiko either missed the tone, or ignored it. "I thought I would try curry again," Yukiko said happily, while scooping a spoonful of the stuff. "Go on! Taste it." Yukiko said eagerly, but Viljam had clamped his mouth shut. "I know it's not ready yet, but it should be delicious." For some reason, that did _not_ sound reassuring.

"En-" And now Viljam made the mistake of opening his mouth. Yukiko quickly plunged the spoon into the slightly opened mouth.

"How is it," Yukiko asked eagerly. Viljam didn't respond for a few seconds, before he started slumping down.

"Pappa?" Was the last thing Viljam said, before he reached the floor and stopped moving.

That earned question marks from the black haired girl. After few seconds of wondering, Yukiko remembered the time she asked Viljam about his family. "Pappa" was a Finnish word for grandfather, or that's what Viljam told Yukiko. But didn't Viljam say that his grandfather was... OH CRAP! "NOUSKU-KUN! DON'T DIE!" Yukiko screamed while slapping and shaking Viljam to get him to wake up.

 **(Several minutes later)**

Currently, Yukiko was crying in her room, while her mother was trying to comfort the poor girl.

"I killed him...*sob*," Yukiko cried into her mother's shoulder. Of course Yukiko's earlier cry attracted attention. When one of the workers, who hadn't gone home yet saw the scene, he immediately alerted others who were around. It also didn't take long for the incident to reach the ears of Yukiko's mother.

"Like I said, Yukiko. He's not dead, only unconcious," Yukiko's mother said softly, while lightly stroking her daughter's head comfortingly.

"But I could've...," Yukiko retorted, hiccuping a little.

"Shhh. No you couldn't have," the Amagi matriarch shushed. The current manager of the inn still had a hard time believing that her daughter's cooking could actually kill someone. Actually, knocking someone out with cooking felt just as strange to the older woman. "He will be up and about tomorrow again, just wait and see," Yukiko's mother added in an attempt to comfort her baby girl.

"And then he'll hate me," Yukiko said sadly. She could see it now: Viljam would avoid her like a plague, claim that she attempted murder, and worst of all, people believing it, which would result in Yukiko ending up in jail.

"I doubt that," Yukiko's mother said confidently, "This was an accident. I'm sure he will understand.". The Amagi matriarch also thought that if Viljam did hold a grudge, he would get a stern talking to. But for now, the boy would need rest. Thankfully some of the remaining workers were kind enough to carry the Finnish boy to his room.

"I don't know if he can," Yukiko said, though she wasn't crying anymore. While the worst of the images of what Viljam will think of her were now gone, she still had some images where Viljam was avoiding her, or being scared of her.

"I'm sure he can, dear," Yukiko's mother said, while hugging her daughter for a few more minutes.

 **(On the road. August 23rd. Morning)**

For Yukiko's relief, Viljam didn't hate her. Actually, he didn't remember anything that happened after he reached the kitchen.

Anyway, the gang was now driving on the road that supposedly led to the beach. "Supposedly", because Rise, Yu and Viljam were trusting Chie, Yukiko and Yosuke to know the way.

"Chie-senpai, is the beach really this way," Rise called loudly so she would be heard over the scooter engine. The scooter she had gotten from the agency was pink. And of course a pink helmet was on her head for safety reasons. Unbeknownst to others, Rise almost got cold feet in asking for it, due to having to go through her manager to get it. Thankfully there was no issue.

"Yeah! We've been driving for a while," Viljam added in. Turns out that the scooter Chie had gotten the Finnish boy from her cousin was very old, but still in a working condition. It was once white, but the paintjob had gone slightly gray for whatever reason. Although Viljam felt a little ridiculous at first, he got used to it. Chie also found him a black helmet, which felt a little uncomfortable to him, but Viljam didn't complain. Safety first, as they say.

"I'm positive," Chie hollered happily. The scooter she borrowed was blue, and the helmet she wears is orange. "Can't you smell the ocean," Chie said, before taking a deep breath for emphasis. Not that any of the rear holders could tell.

"What smell," Rise wondered mostly to herself.

Then Yosuke slowed down a little closer to Rise, "You can definitely trust Satonaka on this. She has the senses of a beast," Yosuke commented.

"Whaat!?" Chie shouted behind her, clearly offended. "Who're you calling a beast," Chie said angrily.

"Hey, I was complimenting you," Yosuke said in defense.

"What kind of girl would feel complimented for being compared to a big furry animal," Chie retorted.

While this was happening, Yu shook his head a little, while Viljam seemed ready to burst into laughter. Yu's scooter was white and fairly old, but still looked to be in near pristine condition. The silver haired boy was also wearing a black helmet with a white stripe.

"Yosuke is making this too easy," Viljam commented off-handedly to Yu.

"What?"

"Laughing at him," Viljam clarified with a smile.

"Uhhuh," Yu thought, not sure how to take the comment. "How far do you think Kanji and Teddie are," the silver haired boy then wondered. Since Teddie and Kanji couldn't get motorcycle licenses, Kanji had to settle for a bicycle, while Teddie had roller blades.

"Hard to say," Viljam said, thoughtfully. "I wonder how much Kanji can take this heat," the Finnish boy wondered. Indeed, it was sunny and hot. If it wasn't for the breeze that came from the driving, Viljam was pretty sure he'd have a heat stroke. Actually, he's been uncomfortable the whole summer. It was never this hot in Finland. How warm are Finland's summers compared to Japan you ask? Well Japan's spring is equals Finland's summer in warmth. So, yeah, Viljam doesn't like the local summer heat.

Anyway, before Yu could answer, trees gave way to the ocean view.

"Look! The Ocean!" Chie hollered happily, forgetting her fight with Yosuke. Everyone shared the Kung Fu loving girls enthusiasm to varying degrees.

Then something odd happened. A dust cloud was approaching them from behind. Then the said cloud passed them, revealing themselves to be Teddie and Kanji who had some kind of spurt going on.

"How did- When did-," Viljam stammered, unable to believe that they were just passed by a bicycle and a pair of roller skates.

"No one's gonna beat me to the water!" Chie hollered, while speeding up.

"Chie, wait up," Yukiko shouted, speeding up herself.

"Wait for me," Rise added in while speeding up herself.

Viljam was snapped out of his stupor by the others speeding up so..."Kuka vika, se on SIKA! **(Whoever's last, is PIG)** " Viljam hollered happily, while speeding past Yu, who didn't need a translation to guess that Viljam said something about last one being... whatever the Finnish said.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Most of the guys had already changed into their swimming gear. Kanji was still missing though, and so were the girls.

"You know, I'm starting to get a little nervous here," Yosuke said nervously.

"Why's that," Yu asked, even though he had a pretty good guess.

"We're at the ocean, which means swimsuits, which means Risette in live and person," the Junes boy said in glee, earning a sweat drop from Yu.

"Mä en tajuu tuota **(I don't get that)** ," Viljam mumbled with a sigh. Although he was also nervous for different reasons. By the way, while Yu, Yosuke and Teddie wore what Viljam calls swimming shorts, Viljam himself was wearing more form fit version of them.

"What are the ramifications," Yosuke questioned aloud, not hearing Viljam, "Am I using my lifetime supply of luck here?".

"Yosuke, I think you're overreacting," Yu tried to reason.

"How the heck is this overreacting," Yosuke asked, while looking at Yu like he was being weird. Then his gaze fell past the silver haired boy. "Whoa!"

And now the girls arrived. Chie and Yukiko had the same swimsuits that Yosuke got them. As much as the girls didn't appreciate Yosuke's little scheme, they liked the swimsuits. Not that they would ever admit it aloud, even if their lives depended on it.

But Yu's eyes had widened at the sight of Rise. "Rise-chan... isn't that...," Yu couldn't finish the sentence. Rise was wearing an orange bikini with white dots. The same one her shadow wore.

"Do you like it senpai," Rise asked cheerfully, either missing or ignoring Yu's reaction.

Viljam on the other hand was looking away from the girls. The reason being to hide his blush that came from seeing Rise's bikini. Well..., more specifically the said bikinis returned the image of Chie in them from the dream Yosuke put in his head. " _Rauhoitu... Rauhoitu_ _ **(Calm down... Calm down)**_ _,_ " Viljam told himself in his head while taking calming breaths.

"What's wrong Villy," Teddie asked, causing Viljam to jump a little.

"Nothing," Viljam said, feeling like something bad was about to happen.

"Ooh! I know! You were thinking of Chie-chan, Yuki-chan and Rise-chan" Teddie said teasingly.

Instead of getting flustered, Viljam gave Teddie a dead pan look."Don't confuse me with yourself or Yosuke," Viljam dead-panned.

"HEY!" Came from Yosuke.

"What? He's telling the truth," Chie retorted to Yosuke. "Anyway, why are you guys still here, you should be in the water," Chie then asked.

"Were you guys waiting for us," Rise asked slyly.

"Kind of," Yu admitted easily, "I thought we should all go in at once.". What Yu said wasn't even a lie. Well, if you asked him anyway. Yosuke and Teddie were another matter.

As for Viljam... "Actually, you guys can go without me," Viljam said, earning surprised looks from others.

"Why? Don't you like swimming," Yukiko asked in surprise.

"No. I just... don't feel like it right now," the Finnish boy said, while looking away from the others.

Yosuke saw his chance for payback. "Are you scared of water by any chance," Yosuke asked with a sinister smirk.

"Heko, heko," Viljam said sarcastically. While the words were unknown, the sarcastic tone gave away the context. "Sorry guys, but I have my own pace that I can't break" Viljam said apologetically to the rest of the gang that was present.

"Oh come on! You can't just come to the beach and not swim," Chie retorted, still thinking Viljam just didn't want to swim at all.

"I didn't say I won't, I'll just take a moment," Viljam tried to reason.

Yu shook his head a little. Personally, if Viljam didn't want to swim then no one should force him. Then Yu looked past the Finnish boy to see Kanji approaching. "Ahh. There's Kanji," Yu said, drawing everyone's attention momentarily away from Viljam.

Sure enough, Kanji just arrived. Though most of them thought that he would still be tired from cycling at the speed he went at. Still he was here in his...

"DUDE! WHAT IS THAT!?" Yosuke cried out in horror.

"What's what," Kanji asked, not understanding what the problem was.

"Your... swimsuit! What else would I mean," Yosuke shouted, causing Kanji to glance at his black speedoes.

"It's... basic black," Kanji said, almost questioningly.

"Not the color! The model," Yosuke griped, "I'm seeing things I never wanted to see!"

"Then why are you looking," Viljam asked, sounding sounding completely serious. This earned shocked looks from everyone except Kanji. Followed by laughs from most people.

"Nice one Nousku-kun," Chie couldn't help saying even though she was laughing pretty hard.

"See! You're the only one who has a problem," Kanji said to Yosuke in agreement.

"Yosuke, are you repressing your feelings," Viljam then asked, almost sounding worried.

"WHAT!?" Came the shout with varying tones of shock, disbelief and/or outrage. Loudest being Yosuke. "I- He- WHAT HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Yosuke finally managed to say.

Viljam flinched at the tone and volume, but remained calm somehow. "Well... The way you chastise Kanji from his wardrobe or make fun of... I'm-not-saying-what, makes me wonder if you're doing that to cover your own...," Viljam trailed off in his explanation.

"Preferences," Yu supplied helpfully, earning a look of shocked betrayal from Yosuke.

"Yeah, that," Viljam said."Besides, we don't even know if Kanji has such preferences, and even if he does that doesn't mean he could pounce on us any second," The Finnish boy finished his explanation.

At the last part, everyone was either weirded out, impressed or highly suspicious of Viljam's words.

"I...I," Yosuke stammered, while slumping to his knees in horror.

"Uhh...," Kanji sounded out.

"Wow." Came from Yu. The silver haired boy was impressed about the Finnish boy's acceptance. Are everyone in Finland like that, or is it just him?

"Villy is weird," Teddie said, while inching away and hugging his floating ring.

"That's... kinda... mature?" Rise said, not sure if she meant her words.

"Amazing," Yukiko said in wonder.

"Uhhh," Chie sounded unsurely. Sure the (probably) unintentional jab at Yosuke was funny, but now she wasn't sure if she should've laughed in the first place.

"Well, guess I'm gonna go ahead and jump into the water," Teddie then said, and ran off into to do just that.

That snapped most of the others out of the stupor. "Hey no fair," Chie shouted, before getting in too. And that caused a chain reaction, where most of the Investigation team got into the water.

"I'll come later," Viljam called to others, before moving to a shade to sit and watch the others. Yosuke also stayed behind for a moment to try and pick up the pieces of his pulverized ego.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Yosuke was glaring at the shade where Viljam was now lying with his eyes closed. Part of him, knew that he shouldn't let Viljam's words get to him so much, but that last one where his preferences came to question was uncalled for. "He's gonna pay for this," Yosuke muttered as he just floated in place. While the rest of the gang was having fun. Teddie was now sitting on his floatsie while happily splashing water. Chie and Kanji were having a swimming competition. While Rise asked for swimming "lessons" from Yu, and Yukiko had joined them.

Soon enough, Yosuke decided to make the Finnish boy pay in a very humiliating way. With his quickly deviced plan in mind, Yosuke swam to intercept Kanji, who was about to swim past him with Chie not far behind.

"Hey, Kanji," Yosuke called to the punk.

"Not now, I'm winning," Kanji replied as he kept swimming, but Chie was slowly gaining on him.

"Guess I can wait for a moment," Yosuke sighed to himself, while waiting patiently for the race to end.

 **(Few seconds later)**

Viljam was lying on the warm sand, despite being in the shade, while idly wondering if he should try to get in the water already. It sounded like the others were having fun.

However, those thoughts were cut, when he felt his ankles being grabbed. "Mitä-" was the only thing Viljam got to say, before his wrists were grabbed as well. "Kuk-Kanji!" Viljam exclaimed, seeing now who grabbed his ankles.

"Not just him," said a smug voice that was currently holding the Finnish boy's wrists.

Viljam turned his head to see the other perpetrator. "Yosuke! Mitä helkkaria hommaat **(What the heck are you doing)** ," Viljam shouted angrily.

"This is payback for what you did," Yosuke said with a sinister smirk, having a good guess what Viljam exclaimed. Then the two guys lifted Viljam off the ground and started walking towards the water. Didn't take a genious to figure out what they were planning.

"Look, if this is about what I said, then I'm sorry," Viljam said in fear. "Just please put me down," Viljam said, increasingly more terrified of what they were going to do to him.

"Oh you're not getting out of this with a simple apology," Yosuke said, just as they reached the water.

"Kanji, why are you doing this? I didn't do anything to you," Viljam pleaded desperately.

"You said I'm you-know-what," Kanji said, as he and Yosuke started swinging his body for momentum.

"I didn't say that!"

"3" Yosuke began the countdown.

"No! Please," Viljam pleaded while trying to struggle, but unfortunately he couldn't move enough to even disrupt the swinging.

"2"

"APUA!" Viljam shouted in panic.

That earned the attention of everyone else. "Hey! What're you morons doing," Chie shouted angrily.

"Put him down!" Yukiko cried out.

"1. Lift off!"

"EI SAAAAAAAAAA!" Viljam cried just as he was flung a fair distance, before he fell down with a splash.

"That'll teach him to mess with us," Yosuke said with a satisfied smirk.

"HANAMURAAA!" And there came the Satonaka kick in the stomach. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Chie shouted at the downed Junes boy.

"What's wrong with me!? What's wrong with HIM!?" Yosuke shouted with venom in his voice, despite clutching his abused mid-section. "He called us gay!" Yosuke said angrily.

Chie looked shocked about Yosuke doing something like this because of something so petty. "If it's not true, then why do you care!" Chie shouted. Chie was about to kick Yosuke again, but Yukiko said something that gave everyone a pause.

"Why hasn't Nousku-kun come back up yet," Yukiko said with worry. That caused Chie and Yu, who had just arrived to look to the area Viljam was flung to. Sure enough, the Finnish boy hadn't gotten back to the surface yet.

Then Yu had a fearful look on his face. "Amagi-san... does Viljam know how to swim," Yu asked the dreadful question. Worst thing is, it would explain why he was hesitant to get in the water.

"I... don't know," Yukiko said, getting very afraid herself.

Just as everyone was going to rush in to save Viljam, he got back to the surface with a gasp for precious air. Then the Finnish boy swam back to the shore with a look of pure hatred on his face. "Vihaan teitä," Viljam muttered with barely restrained fury to Yosuke and Kanji, before walking away from everyone.

"Nousku-kun, wait," Chie called after him, before running after him. Yukiko joined her best friend.

Which left Yu with Kanji and Yosuke. "What were you two thinking!?" Yu shouted with anger that the two weren't used to hearing. "You fling him into deep water without knowing if he can even swim," the silver haired boy scolded.

"I...," Yosuke tried to say, now feeling horribly guilty. The possibility of Viljam not knowing how to swim didn't even cross the Junes boy's mind.

 **(With Viljam)**

"Nousku-kun, wait," Chie called after the Finnish boy who was angrily stomping away. But Viljam either ignored her, or didn't hear.

"Nousku-kun, stop," Yukiko said, getting in front of him.

"What!?" Viljam said harshly, causing Yukiko to flinch. That caused Viljam to forget his anger. "Sorry. I shouldn't snap at you," Viljam said with a sigh.

"No you shouldn't," Chie said with disapproval, before getting to the matter at hand, "Listen, you can't leave just because Hanamura and Kanji-kun decided to be idiots.".

That earned a curious look from Viljam, until he realized what Chie probably meant. "I'm not leaving, I just need to get a little something," Viljam said reassuringly.

"Are you sure you're okay, Nousku-kun," Yukiko asked, wanting to be sure. From the few times she had seen Viljam hurt, she knew that if left alone Viljam might hold onto his depressed state for too long.

That made Viljam sigh a little. "Yukiko, I'm fine," Viljam said reassuringly. "I mean, aside from hating those two for a while," Viljam added some of his previous anger returning.

"But you sounded terrified," Yukiko said, referring to Viljam's cries when he was flung. They were lucky that there weren't many people around otherwise, this could've caused a scene.

That caused Viljam to blush in embarrassment. "...Yeah, I thought the water would be freezing cold," Viljam said in embarrassment, "I was wrong."

Chie was tempted to slap Viljam. She thought Viljam was in a life threatening situation, and he was just afraid of a little cold. The water wasn't even cold, just cool enough to counter the summer heat. "Why would you think that water would be freezing cold in this heat," Chie asked, deciding to humour Viljam for now. And if he said something stupid, she might not be able to hold back.

"In my experience natural water spots are always cold," Viljam said with a sigh.

"Are you talking about the lakes in Finland," Yukiko asked, remembering that Finland was known as the land of thousand lakes. At least, according to what she had researched out of curiosity.

"Yeah," Viljam admitted. "Anyway, you two should get back to the others. I'll be back in a few seconds," the Finnish boy then said, wanting to get his instrument of vengeance.

The two girls glanced at one another, before shrugging and going back. At least Viljam seemed much less angry compared to few moments ago.

 **(A little later with the others)**

While Yukiko and Chie were gone, Yu had lectured the two about putting Viljam's life in danger. Sure nothing bad happened, but if it had, well... Let's just say Youske and Kanji felt very bad. Especially Kanji, who realized that Yosuke had manipulated him. Viljam never called him, just acknowledged the possibility and even that was a very big "if" to the Finnish boy as far the punk knew.

However, Rise and Teddie managed to convince others that they shouldn't let this ruin their day. Besides, Viljam said he would be back so there's that.

Although... "Shouldn't he have come back by now," Yukiko thought with worry. Viljam said he would only take a few seconds, but more time than that has already passed.

"I'm sure he'll come any second," Chie said, even though she had started wondering herself.

"Well if he wants to ditch us, then let him," Yosuke said, now feeling bitter for being made to look like a bad guy.

"We're the ones who did that," Kanji pointed out, earning a glare from Yosuke.

"Well, you-AAGH!" Yosuke suddenly fell backwards in the water.

"Yosuke," Yu questioned, not sure how to react. They were all currently close enough to the shore that the water reached just past their waists. And there shouldn't be anything that would cause them to trip in the sand beneath their feet.

The Junes boy soon got back up frantically. "Something grabbed my ankles," Yosuke said, clearly spooked.

"What!?" Came from everyone, followed by Kanji falling over for no reason. Or so it seemed.

"Who the hell tripped me!?" Kanji shouted, after spitting out some salt water that got into his mouth.

Chie immediately went next to Yukiko to protect her best friend from... whatever was in the water now.

"Do we have a pervert lurking in the waters," Rise wondered in worry, immediately clinging into Yu's arm.

Before Yu had time to comment on Rise latching onto his arm, someone got up to the surface right next to Chie and Yukiko. "Miltäs suolavesi maistui, törpöt **(How'd the salt water taste, morons)** ," The now revealed Viljam said smugly with his arms crossed. Although there was one difference to him compared to last time they saw him. Blue tinted swimming goggles over his eyes.

"You did this!" Yosuke shouted, now very annoyed.

"You threw me first," Viljam retorted.

"You bastard better start apologizing, or I'm taking you down," Kanji threatened while cracking his knuckles.

To everyone's surprise, Viljam's smug smile widened at the threat. "First, my parents were married when they had me. Second, tule hakemaan, JÄBÄ! **(come get me, DUDE)** " Viljam hollered before laughing at whatever joke he made.

Kanji didn't need a translation to recognize a taunt. So he started stomping at Viljam, who fell on his back and backstroked away while singing, "Tsuuida duida~. Osaat' sä uida~ **(Tsuuida duida. Can you swim~)**."

As this started, everyone blinked at the mental flip that Viljam had gone through.

"Did he just turn into a little kid," Rise wondered aloud, still latched onto Yu's arm.

That earned a laugh out of Yukiko. "Viruyam,*ahhaha* viis vee **(Viruyam, five years)** ," Yukiko managed to say through her laughter, mispronouncing Viljam's name in the process.

"Uhhh," Chie said with a sweatdrop, not understanding the joke that Yukiko seemingly thought of.

"I'm wondering that myself," Yu said, also surprised at Viljam's currently very childish behavior. "And Rise-chan, you can let go now," the silver haired boy added almost as an after thought. Not that he was entirely against this arrangement.

"Oh, sorry Senpai," Rise said in embarrassment. She was seriously scared that there might be someone creeping on them, which was why she latched onto the safest thing she could think of at the moment. Now she was a little embarrassed.

"Wow, Villy is fast," Teddie commented, lounging on his floatsie without a care in the world. Indeed, Viljam was swimming circles around Kanji. Whenever it looked like the punk would grab the Finnish boy, Viljam went underwater and reappeared some ways away from Kanji. And a few times, Viljam appeared at the same place where he last outswam Kanji, making whatever sounds the Finnish make when calling out to someone for good measure.

"For a guy with lung problems, he sure knows how to hold his breath," Yosuke said, not sure if he was impressed or disturbed.

"Yeah, how come he isn't coughing yet," Chie wondered too.

"I'm more curious about him swimming so well," Yu wondered aloud. Viljam was far from olympic class swimmers, but he still seemed better than Kanji. Plus he was diving, so Kanji had no way of tracking his movements properly.

Any further wondering about Viljam's hidden abilities came to a halt when Yosuke once again fell backwards, causing everyone to jump a little again.

"When did he get here," Rise nearly shrieked, because they all thought he was still making fool of Kanji.

Yukiko had a look of realization as she remembered something"Oh, that reminds me-" Yukiko was interrupted by Yosuke getting back up, a little away from where he fell down.

"You can't drag someone underwater!" Yosuke shouted at Viljam, who had also gotten back up for some air.

"Saapas! Vai haluatko maistaa _saapasta_! **(Yes I can! Or do you want to taste boot)** " And now Viljam went into a laughing fit, even as Kanji was approaching from behind.

Everyone who wasn't part of this sweatdropped, except Yukiko who looked curious, and Teddie who laughed at the funny scene.

"NOW I GOT YA!" Kanji roared, while pouncing on Viljam who hastily went underwater to escape. Unfortunately, Kanji managed to grab the Finnish boy by one ankle. "You're not getting away this ti-!" Kanji was interrupted by sudden torrent of rapid fire splashing. Courtesy of Viljam's still free hands. Kanji was forced to let go to cover his face, which of course allowed Viljam to escape.

"Kanji..., let's catch that asshole," Yosuke said, having enough of Viljam's BS.

"Yeah... let's," Kanji said while wiping his face.

And with that, Yosuke joined the hunt. All the while the rest excluding Teddie looked stupefied.

"Sooo... What were you saying Yukiko," Chie asked, wanting to forget Viljam's antics for a moment. That also earned everyone else's attention, except Teddie's who was still watching the show.

"Hmm? Oh! Last time Nousku-kun talked to his family, I was also there. I remember his family saying something that he refused to translate, so they tried to say it in English," Yukiko started explaining.

"What did they say," Yu asked, getting curious about a possible clue to Viljam's current behaviour.

Yukiko looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to remember the exact words and what they meant. "I think they said, 'Once you get him in the water, good luck getting him out'," Yukiko said quoting what she heard from Viljam's mother.

"Are you saying that this is normal for him," Chie asked in surprise, while motioning towards Viljam who once again avoided Kanji and Yosuke by diving.

"I don't know. Nousku-kun wouldn't let me hear the details," Yukiko said with a shrug. "Linnea-san also said something about a... beast," Yukiko said, straining her mind to remember.

"A beast," Rise said, not liking the sound of that, "What beast?"

"I'm not sure. Nousku-kun muted the computer before I could even try to ask," Yukiko said.

"Beast..., beast...," Yu repeated thoughtfully. Then it hit him. "Have you guys ever heard the term, unleash the beast," Yu then asked.

"Unleash... the beast," Rise repeated, while Teddie cheered Viljam on from his floatsie.

"You don't mean... Was Linnea-san trying to warn Yukiko about Nousku-kun turning into this," Chie asked, while looking to the direction where Yosuke and Kanji were currently eyeing the waters. Viljam was nowhere in sight, probably underwater again.

Even though no one saw him right now, they understood what Chie meant. "That... I don't know if it's funny or weird," Rise said, feeling torn.

"What is?"

And that caused everyone to jump a little, except Teddie who just turned to the direction of the sound.

Viljam had appeared, with only his head above the water and positioning himself in a way that Yu and Rise were blocking Kanji's and Yosuke's view of him.

"When did you get here," Rise nearly shrieked and Viljam sank underwater instead of answering.

"What're you guys doing," Yosuke called out to everyone noticing how they jumped.

"Viljam was here just now, but now he's gone," Yu answered truthfully. Or not so truthfully, because he could still barely make out Viljam's head just beneath the surface.

"Dammit, where'd he go this time," Kanji complained, while scanning the water surface to see any possible bubbles that could reveal Viljam's location. Yosuke joining in soon after.

As soon as the two had their attention elsewhere, Yu lightly poked Viljam's head. Which made the Finnish boy to slowly raise his head above the surface. "Are they coming," Viljam asked, referring to the two guys hunting him, while lightly gasping for air.

"No, they aren't," Yu responded earning a sigh of relief from Viljam.

"Good, because I don't think I can keep this up," Viljam said, sounding mildly exhausted.

"Nousku-kun, what did your sister mean by 'beast'," Yukiko decided to ask.

That question made Viljam look down. "...Do I have to answer," Viljam asked almost sounding ashamed.

"You've been acting weird, so yes," Rise said, although she used her teasing tone.

The Finnish boy sighed. "Whenever our family went swimming, I have a tendency to... get a little hyperactive," Viljam admitted with embarrassment that didn't fit with how he was not too long ago. "Hence the saying, 'Once I flip, the water beast is out," Viljam added with an embarrassed chuckle.

"...Wow," Chie said, trying to picture Viljam acting like he was all the time. The image was a little weird to her, that's for sure. "So, you're always this excitable when at beach," Chie then asked, wanting to be sure.

"Well... Actually I've been told that compared to when I was little, I'm actually pretty calm now," Viljam said, earning weird looks as the gang tried to picture Viljam worse than he is now.

"And you didn't want Amagi-san to know this... why," Yu asked, and if the answer was what he thought it was...

"It's embarrassing," Viljam said, before taking the goggles off his eyes and placing them on his forehead. "Though, I guess... I didn't think it through," the Finnish boy admitted, seeing as they had now witnessed it first hand.

"No, you didn't," Yu said with a near condecending look, causing the hiding Finnish boy to sink a little.

"Aww, don't be a baby," Chie said teasingly, now finding this situation funny.

"Hey," Viljam retorted rising to his full height.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Which unfortunately made him visible to Yosuke and Kanji, who were still chasing him.

"Räkä! En jaksa enää **(Booger! I can't continue anymore)** ," Viljam whined, but put his goggles back on anyway, preparing to dive.

"Wait," Yu said, before Viljam could attempt to escape again. "I think this show has gone long enough," the silver haired boy said. "Satonaka-san, can you help me a little," Yu asked Chie. He would need back up to stop both Yosuke and Kanji. Kanji could be reasoned with, but Yosuke might need a kick to calm down. Though hopefully it won't come to that.

 **(Some time later)**

It took a fair bit of effort from Yu and Chie to pacify Kanji and Yosuke enough to see reason. Afterwards, the two were able to apologize for throwing Viljam, without knowing if he could swim. In return, Viljam apologized for being a pain in the ass just now.

From there, the gang had their fun at the beach, although Viljam had to rest a little first, but that didn't take too long.

Interestingly enough, Chie asked to try Viljam's goggles for a moment, because she wanted to dive without her eyes burning from the salt water. Viljam allowed it, but told Chie to be careful not to lose them. It was kind of funny how the visage underwater was clearer than when looking from the surface.

Teddie also asked to borrow the goggles, but Chie told Viljam to not let him. Thankfully the Finnish boy had no intention to do that anyway.

Now however, Yosuke and Yu had decided to take a break on the shore. "Wanna get some drinks. I saw a vending machine not too far from us," Yosuke asked Yu.

"Sure," Yu said and the two were moving to do just that.

"EEK!" Until they heard Yukiko screaming.

"What the...?" Yu exclaimed, looking towards the sound alongside Yosuke.

"My strings gettting undone," Rise cried, while submerging most of herself to fix it.

The two guys also saw Viljam who seemed to be scanning the waters. They also noted interestingly enough that he wasn't wearing his goggles anymore.

"HEY, TEDDIE! WATCH THE HANDS PAL!" And now Chie cried out, lashing out at whatever was underwater.

"AND GIVE MY GOGGLES BACK!" Viljam shouted, swimming to Chie, hoping to catch the goggle thief.

Yosuke had a blank look. "Did Teddie steal Viljam's goggles," Yosuke wondered idly, before a look of realization hit him. "Wait! He got a nice view of the girls underwater!? No fair," Yosuke whined, earning a concerned look from Yu.

"Yosuke... do you realize how you sound," Yu asked in concern. "And I think Viljam was too busy to dive away from you and Kanji to look," the silver haired boy added.

That earned a nearly offended look from Yosuke. "It was just a thought," Yosuke complained, "Besides, I wouldn't toy with my life like Teddie is right now."

As soon as that was said, they heard Kanji yelp. "Got ya you little bastard," Kanji then exclaimed, catching the diving bear/boy in question.

"Busted," Teddie whined, as he was carried back to the shore by Kanji. That is, until Viljam reached them and yanked the goggles off the blonde boy's head, before flicking his forehead.

"That's for stealing my goggles," Viljam said in annoyance, before following it with a smack upside Teddie's head, "And that's for what you used them for.". With that, Viljam slid the goggles around his neck, where they would stay until he felt like diving again.

With that business done, Kanji carried the dismayed blonde in a one armed hold to the shore. "What the hell did you think you were doing Ted," Kanji asked angrily as he exited the water.

"We were due for a 'wardrobe malfunction'," the blonde boy complained.

Yu shook his head at hearing that. Then he and Yosuke saw something terrible.

"NO! Not cool!" the Junes boy cried out while covering his eyes.

"What the heck's up with you," Kanji said, clearly not in the mood.

"Down there," Yu said calmly, but was worried about how Kanji reacts.

"Down?" And Kanji looked down. "HOLY SHIT! The wardrobe malfunction was mine," Kanji cried out after realizing he had lost his speedoes.

Teddie also realized what happened to Kanji and started struggling in panic.

"We need to cover up Kanji," Yu said, not really worried about the situation, but the longer Kanji is uncovered, the more likely a scene is about to happen.

"How? We don't know where his swimsuit ended up," Yosuke said. Then he saw something that would probably add up to Kanji's misery soon. The girls and Viljam were getting out of the water.

"Oh, crap we gotta over him fast! I'll go look for something," Yosuke said quickly before running off.

Teddie, meanwhile had gone limp. "I can hear the bells," the smaller blonde boy said deliriously.

"Stay with us, Ted!" Kanji shouted, before addressing Yu, "Senpai, isn't there anything you could think of?"

Yu honestly didn't know what to do right now. The girls were getting closer. Viljam will probably just pity Kanji or something, but who knows how the girls will react. "How about a seashell," Yu suggested spotting one big enough to cover what was needed.

"No! It's too... sexy," Kanji said, causing Yu to feel uncomfortable at the phrase.

"Here, Kanji," Yosuke exclaimed as he got back.

"That's seaweed," Kanji complained, but the sound of the rest of the gang approaching made them more fearful.

"No time to argue, just put it on," Yosuke said quickly.

Kanji wanted to protest more, but he had no time for that, so he dropped Teddie and took the seaweed.

And he had it on just in time for the girls and Viljam to see the scene.

"What is that," Viljam asked, clearly trying to process the seaweed attire. Why was Kanji even using any of it to cover his chest.

"Uhhh...," Chie sounded out, clearly weirded out. As were the other girls.

"Were just...," Yosuke said, trying to come up with a good excuse, "...re-enacting the Birth of Venus.". That caused Yu to cover his face with his hand in embarrassment of the pathetic excuse.

"Yeah! I'm ready to be born DAMMIT," Kanji said, not helping his case.

After few seconds of silence, the girls ran away screaming in disgust. Viljam on the other hand bursted into the worst laughing fit by far.

"I knew this wouldn't end well," Yu lamented, while daring to look at the Finnish boy, who had collapsed and was rolling on the sand laughing. "Wait, isn't that," Yu said, noticing that Viljam was holding something in his left hand.

Kanji too dared to look at what the Finnish boy was holding. "Whuh!? THOSE ARE MINE!" Kanji shouted after realizing Viljam was holding the punk's speedoes.

With what little clarity he had in his head, Viljam threw the speedoes to Kanji, who caught them easily.

"Why did you have them," Yosuke asked with slight worry. Unfortunately, Viljam was still laughing and unable to answer.

"Maybe they floated to him or something," Yu theorized, earning a furious nod from Viljam, signaling that the Finnish at least had the presence of mind to understand.

That is, until laughing finally turned into coughing. Which meant Viljam had to hurry and get his inhalator.

 **(Much later)**

The sun was now pretty low, but the gang was still at the beach. Although they did take a little break. It was kind of funny for Yu to see Chie and Viljam eating steak together at one of the little stalls that were set up. Speaking of which, it seemed like the longer Viljam was out of the water, the more he returned to his usual self.

Now however, the girls were building a sand castle with Teddie. They were still a little wary of the bear because of the stunt he pulled, but they decided to believe that Teddie had learned that what he did was wrong. Though that doesn't mean the bear won't get it if he tries something funny again.

Meanwhile, Yu, Yosuke, Kanji and Viljam were sitting in the sand, with the Finnish boy's childish reserves completely used up.

"We've had busy day," Yosuke commented.

"We sure did," Yu agreed.

"I'm still itchy," Kanji complained, while shifting uncomfortably.

*Snrk*

"Viljam," Yu said, in an admonishing tone.

"Oh come on, it was funny," Viljam retorted, still finding the whole thing amusing.

"Speak for yourself," Kanji grumbled. "By the way, how come you're so good at swimming," the punk then asked.

"Dad put me and Linnea in swimming school once. Guess the lessons stuck," Viljam shrugged.

"That so," Yu said, finding that little tidbit mildly interesting. "How good would you say your sisters are," the silver haired boy then asked, wondering if Viljam's swimming was a family thing or just him.

"Linnea and I occasionally raced, I always won," Viljam said with a smile, before donning a serious expression, "But compared to Maria, who was once in a swimming contest, I'm not much."

"How big of a contest are we talking about," Yosuke asked, already getting the image of Viljam's sister being a professional.

That made Viljam think for a moment. "I think it was between neighbouring towns at least," Viljam said clearly having trouble remembering.

"And how did she do," Kanji also asked.

"I don't remember, but I do know she didn't win," Viljam said, not remembering the event too clearly.

"How can you not remember something like that," Yosuke asked. Surely a competition where someone's sister participated in was important enough to remember.

Viljam sighed. "It was many years ago, and I barely understood anything that was happening around me," The Finnish boy said like he was ashamed of himself.

"Uhhuh," Yosuke said, totally unconvinced. But deciding that this subject wasn't important, "Hey, how about we go skiing during winter."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself," Kanji asked. "Winter's still a while away," the punk pointed out.

"Skiing? I love skiing," Viljam exclaimed happily.

"Well, someone's excited," Yu duly noted.

"Skiing means winter, winter means snow and I love snow," Viljam said already picturing his idea of a perfect winter.

"Uhhuh," Kanji said, not sure if he shared Viljam's level of enthusiasm.

"Name three things about winter you like, Viljam," Yosuke suddenly said, earning questioning looks from the other two.

"Snow, don't have to worry about being fried and no bugs to annoy me," Viljam said easily.

"Well... that's disappointing," Yosuke said with a sigh.

"Why?"

"Never mind," Yosuke quickly said.

Then Viljam looked like he remembered something. "I forgot to ask this earlier, but why didn't you just get Kanji's towel to cover him up," Viljam then asked. He still found it funny that Teddie had managed to drag down Kanji's speedoes. The bear probably thought he was doing it to a girl, which probably would've ended worse, but still. Then the said speedoes got tangled around Viljam's foot and the rest is history.

Three face-palms was the Finnish boy's answer.

"I didn't think of that," Yu said, feeling extremely stupid.

"Could've spared the humiliation," Yosuke lamented.

"I'm the one who got humiliated," Kanji growled angrily.

Viljam had a very hard time keeping a straight face or not giving a smart-ass remark. " _Ei saa nauraa. Ei saa nauraa. Ei saa nauraa._ " The Finnish chanted in his head.

In a desperate attempt to direct this conversation somewhere else, Yosuke decided to ask a little something from Viljam that's been bothering him, "Hey, Viljam. I never asked, did you see anything underwater," the Junes boy asked.

Viljam had question marks at the question, "What do you mean?"

"Come on, you know," Yosuke said slyly.

Viljam gave Yosuke wary look. "No I don't," the Finnish boy said, getting suspicious.

"Yosuke means if you had any interesting views on the girls," Yu decided to spell out to save some time.

That caused Viljam's eyes to widen. "...Yosuke, for the sake of not wanting to hurt you, please keep your desperation out of this," Viljam said, not wanting to deal with this subject.

To Yosuke's credit, his eye only twitched at Viljam calling him desperate again. "Says the guy who imagined Satonaka in Rise's swimsuit," Yosuke said almost maliciously.

"Ä- How did you know," Viljam asked, before realizing what he just said.

"Whuh? You did," Yosuke exclaimed in surprise. "I was just... *ahahhahaaa*!" And now Yosuke started laughing at Viljam who covered his face in shame.

Yu also shook his head, not exactly surprised at Viljam having thought patterns of a normal guy, but rather at the Finnish boy's reaction to Yosuke's teasing.

"It's your fault for weaving that in my head," Viljam grumbled weakly, not taking his hands off his face.

"Oh, and when did I do that," Yosuke snickered thinking he had Viljam cornered.

"Back in Rise's dungeon," Viljam said, refusing to call it "strip club".

Unfortunately, Yosuke's smug look never faltered. "I didn't say anything about Satonaka wearing a bikini," Yosuke said evilly.

"Yes you did!" Viljam argued, believing Yosuke was lying.

"Nope. I only said what she was doing and where. I never said anything about what she was wearing," Yosuke said having a victorious look, "So whatever Satonaka was wearing came out of _your_ head."

"...I hate you..." was the only thing Viljam could say, and wishing that the sand they were sitting on would devour him.

"...Yosuke, I think you should stop pushing your luck," Yu said, not wanting Viljam to snap. Or better yet, the girls overhearing this. Also the sad thing is, Yosuke told the truth about what he weaved into Viljam's head. When Yu asked Yosuke about the incident, not once did the Junes boy describe Chie's clothing.

"Yeah, just stop before something bad happens again," Kanji added in, having enough of the shit that happened today. Also, the punk wasn't comfortable with this topic. And neither was Viljam judging by his reaction.

"Whatever," Yosuke said in a very good mood. "Anyway, should we start heading back before it gets dark," the Junes boy then said, seeing as the sun had gone just a little lower now.

"That would be smart," Yu said, "I for one don't want to drive in the dark."

"Alright, Yosuke said before getting up alongside the other guys. "Hey! We're going home," Yosuke called out to the girls and Teddie.

The girls weren't happy about it, but they decided to go too. Although Teddie was a little harder to convince.

* * *

 **AN: And I'll end it here. Yeah... I... might've been like Viljam was sometimes. Whenever we went swimming, getting me in the water was a pain in the ass, but once you got me in, good luck getting me out.**

 **Anyway, what do you think? Should I use this system from now on, and remember, silence means yes here XD.**

 **I hope you guys had fun reading this as much as I had writing.**


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

 **AN: Whelp. Guess I succeeded. I wanted to finish this chapter before my trip to Vietnam. For some reason, I'm not looking forward to that... Oh fine I know why, I'm probably gonna get a heatstroke there, and I'm afraid I might embarrass myself and by extension my cousin by being a bad best man. Yup, my cousin's getting married and I'm supposed to be the best man...**

 **In other news, I just got my JLPT result. I PASSED! Level N5 conquered! Next step, N4.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the read.**

* * *

 **(Hanamura household. August 24th. Daytime)**

Viljam and Yosuke were having another match. Their health bars were so low that one strike could end it all. Actually, Viljam would've refused if Yosuke hadn't threatened to tell Chie about Viljam picturing her in Rise's bikinis. So with a grumble, Viljam threatened to mop the floor with the Junes boy.

"Tästä saat! **(Take this)** " Viljam exclaimed, making a dash attack. Unfortunately the Finnish boy messed up the timing, causing the attack to fall short.

"Gotcha," Yosuke exclaimed as he dealt the finishing blow. "Yes! I FINALLY BEAT YOU!" Yosuke exclaimed letting out a small tear at finally beating Viljam in this fighting game.

"Miksi!? Miksi menin mokaamaan noin tyhmästi **(Why!? Why did I go and make such a stupid mistake)** ," Viljam whined with his head down.

"In your face, Villy," Yosuke hollered while pointing at Viljam mockingly, using Teddie's nickname for him.

"Don't call me Villi," Viljam said angrily, not even bothering to look at Yosuke.

Yosuke scoffed at the anger. "Oh come on. What's so bad about it," Yosuke asked, with a snicker.

"Because someone who made my third grade a living hell called me that," Viljam said seriously.

"Oh?" Yosuke said in surprise, his previous enthusiasm gone. "Is that all," Yosuke asked, earning a blanched look from Viljam. "I mean, is that all the guy did," Yosuke corrected.

That softened Viljam's look. "No, but that stupid nickname still reminds me of the worst days of my life," the Finnish boy said with a sigh.

"Then why haven't you done something to Teddie yet," Yosuke asked in slight confusion, "I mean, if it brings such bad memories, shouldn't you tell him that?"

"I did. It didn't work," Viljam said, feeling deflated.

Yosuke was about to question when that happened, before remembering Viljam saying that to the bear briefly."Telling him once isn't gonna work. Trust me, I know," Yosuke said, remembering a few too many times he had to tell Teddie not to do something about a dozen times, before the bear got the message.

"Maybe, but I don't think he would care even if I said why he shouldn't," Viljam sighed.

"Okay, now you're just being an idiot," Yosuke said with an amused headshake.

"Anteeks mitä **(Say what)**!?" Was the indignant reply.

Yosuke didn't need a translation to know what Viljam said. "This is Teddie we're talking about," The Junes boy explained, "Knowing him, he'll start feeling guilty for reminding you of bad things."

Viljam wanted to be stubborn and retort, but he knew that Yosuke was right. So he grudgingly left the argument at that. However... "I still haven't forgiven him for stealing from me," Viljam said, but he actually sounded mildly amused.

Unfortunately, that sentence gave Yosuke a devious idea. "Your goggles or your date," Yosuke asked with a sly smirk, earning an un-amused look. Followed by a smack.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 24th. Roughly the same time)**

Yukiko had called Chie to her room. Since Viljam wasn't here now, the Amagi heiress felt comfortable about talking to her friend about her latest issue.

"So what is it, Yukiko," Chie asked, seeing her best friend's uncomfortable look.

"...Do you think I should give up on cooking," Yukiko asked sadly.

"Whuh? Why would you...," Chie trailed off as the cogs began to turn. "Did someone say you should," Chie asked with a tone that indicated she was ready to give a piece of her mind to whoever critized Yukiko.

"No! Nothing like that... It's just," Yukiko said, feeling sad again for what she accidentally did. "I almost killed Nousku-kun," Yukiko finally managed to say with a depressed look.

"What?" Chie said with a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on, Yukiko. You're just overreacting again," the green clad girl said cheerfully.

"...He saw his dead grandfather," Yukiko said even more depressed.

"How is that... Oh," Chie said as she put two and two together. "...Are you sure your food didn't just make him... hallucinate or something?" Chie said with little confidence.

And now there was a black cloud above Yukiko, "...That doesn't make me feel better..."

"Whoa! Yukiko, I'm sorry! I just... You just... messed up a little! Yeah that's right," Chie said in an attempt to cheer her friend up.

"Nousku-kun saw his dead grandfather," Yukiko repeated sounding dead to the world.

Chie honestly had no idea what to say to that, until... "Wait a sec! When did this happen," Chie asked, now wondering why Viljam wasn't acting any different from how he usually does. Surely a near death experience would leave some kind of impact.

"...The night before the beach trip," Yukiko answered in monotone.

That gave Chie question marks, "He didn't seem any different to me yesterday.". Then Chie had a thoughtful look, "Well... If we don't count him going water beast on Kanji-kun and Hanamura."

That last comment earned a slight laugh from Yukiko. "He doesn't remember," Yukiko replied, some of her depression having been lifted.

"Huh? Did he forget or something," Chie asked, earning a nod from Yukiko . "Well... At least he won't hold a grudge on you," the green clad girl tried to sound cheerful.

"...Yeah, but... What if next time he won't be so lucky," Yukiko said, now sounding afraid.

"Yukiko, you can't be that bad," Chie said, while pulling Yukiko into a one armed hug, "You just need to practice more. How else are you gonna get better.".

"Thank you Chie...," Yukiko said, feeling much better. "But how am I going to practice... I'm starting to feel that I just... can't," the black haired girl said unsurely.

"Why not ask Nousku-kun to teach you," Chie suggested.

"What?"

"Come on Yukiko, he knows how to cook. I mean, I'm sure he can give a few pointers," Chie explained.

"I don't know if I should," Yukiko said in worry, "I mean... I don't even know if he would want to."

Chie resisted rolling her eyes. "You always tutor him, so think of it as him paying you back," Chie said with a conspirational grin.

Yukiko thought of it for a moment, before smiling. "Alright. I'll ask him when he gets back," the black haired girl said cheerfully.

"Speaking of Nousku-kun, where is he," Chie asked, realizing that Viljam has been nowhere in sight at the Inn.

"He said he went to mop the floors of Hanamura-kun's house," Yukiko replied, earning a blanched look from Chie.

"What?" was the most intelligent comment Chie could give right now.

"Nousku-kun went to mop the floor with Hanamura-kun," Yukiko said with a smile, which soon turned into snickers, and then into laughter.

It took a moment before Chie realized what Yukiko meant, and then she started laughing too.

 **(Rise's house. August 24th. Roughly the same time)**

Yu still had summer homework to be done. That, and Nanako asked him to help with her own homework later today, so he had planned to get his homework out of the way quickly and then help Nanako. Then Rise called him and asked if he could hang out. Initially Yu said no and explained that he wanted to get his homework out of the way. That only made Rise suggest doing their homework together. While Yu felt he would be more efficient alone, it wouldn't be bad to help Rise study if she needs it.

So here he was now, in Rise's room studying with her. Oh right, Yu was a little surprised that Rise's grandmother wasn't even suspicious of her granddaughter bringing a guy to her room. That struck the silver haired boy as odd for some reason, but it doesn't really matter.

"This is boring," Rise whined with a sigh.

Yu rolled his eyes in amusement. "The sooner you're done the sooner you can stop thinking about it," Yu said, trying to encourage the girl. Rise had the most common problem any student has about studying, she hates it. Though she still does the job, if only because she doesn't want to get in trouble.

"I know, but I'm still bored," the teen..., or actually, former teen idol said tiredly.

"How about we take a break then," Yu suggested. Despite Rise's slight complaints, the two had made a lot of progress in their respective homeworks. Rise hates studying, but that doesn't mean she's stupid. She still needed a little help at some points, but that's what Yu was more than willing to do.

Rise perked up at the idea. "Yes! Thank you Senpai," Rise said happily, before getting up from the small table they had been using for their school work. "Oh, I could go get some drinks from Shiroku. What would you like," Rise asked happily.

"You don't have to do that," Yu said, before getting up himself. "I can get something myself," the silver haired boy added. The Shiroku store was just next door to Rise's house so they wouldn't even go far.

"I don't, but I'd like to," Rise said with a cheeky grin.

"Sure, but maybe I just want to be closer to you," Yu replied with an equally cheeky grin.

"What?" Rise said with a blush. "Wow... that's... sure I would like that," Rise said almost shyly. She did not expect Yu to answer like that.

Yu had to resist a laugh. " _I think I'm starting to understand her,_ " Yu thought in amusement, " _Or at least learn how to push her buttons._ ". With that thought, Yu and Rise made a quick visit to Shiroku store.

Few moments later they were back in Rise's room. "I'm surprised you didn't pick Qlorie Magic," Yu said jokingly before taking a sip from his TaP soda.

Rise gave Yu a frown even as she was gulping down her Second Maid. "You saw that commercial," Rise stated almost accusingly.

"That thing was everywhere, how could I not," Yu replied with a shrug

"And you still didn't recognize me that day," Rise asked with a raised eyebrow.

Yu shook his head at what he assumed was Rise being suspicious. "I wasn't exactly interested, besides it's not like I knew who was advertising," the silver haired boy chuckled at the last part. "Anyway, what did you think of it. Qlorie Magic I mean," Yu then asked.

"Why do you want to know," Rise asked with just a hint of suspicion.

"Just curious," Yu replied easily.

Rise stared at Yu for a while, trying to get some kind of reaction out of him. After few seconds of Yu not reacting, Rise sighed. "Honestly. That stuff was bad," the auburn haired girl said as her face morphed into one of disgust.

That surprised Yu. "And you still managed to smile," Yu asked with a disbelieving look.

"Even I'm not sure how I managed to do that," Rise admitted, earning a laugh from Yu. "Hey! It's not funny," Rise exclaimed in annoyance.

"I'm sorry but it kinda is," Yu said with an amused look.

"Says you," Rise said with a pout, "You're not the one who had to drink poison."

That last one made Yu's face neutral again."...That bad huh?" Was the only comment Yu could think of giving.

The former idol looked like she was thinking hard. "...Okay not that bad, but I'll never try it again," Rise admitted with a small smile.

"If you say so," Yu said, before taking another sip of TaP. "I think we should get back to studying now," Yu said, moving to the study materials they had left on the table.

"Do we have to, Senpai," Rise whined cutely, not wanting to study again so soon.

"Yes." Was Yu's dead pan reply.

"You're no fun," Rise whined less cutely, but complied none the less.

Yu wasn't sure why, but for some reason he found this situation funny for some reason.

 **(Chie's house. August 24th. Evening)**

"When is he gonna call me on a date," Chie wondered in her room. "Urgh. It's only been two days. What the hell is wrong with me," Chie complained before slamming her head into her pillow. Still, her and Viljam had only spent time on the beach trip since the festival, and even that was ruined when Teddie had the bright idea of stealing Viljam's goggles. Actually, when she saw Viljam's mental regression, Chie for just a tiny bit, regretted her answer to him. That regret however passed the moment Viljam began to turn back to normal... Well, what passes for normal for him anyway.

Chie's thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. "Yukiko?" Chie mumbled, before steeling herself so Yukiko wouldn't notice anything wrong when she spoke. "Hey, Yukiko," Chie answered the phone.

" _Chie, he said yes,_ " Yukiko exclaimed happily, " _We even picked a recipe that we would try._ "

Yukiko's excitement was infectious, which is why Chie couldn't help smiling. "That's great! When are you gonna try it," the green clad girl asked.

" _Tomorrow. We'll go to Junes in the morning to buy the ingredients and then we'll start cooking a little after the breakfast time at Inn. That way, we won't get in the way of our chefs,_ " Yukiko explained eagerly.

"Uh-huh." Chie nodded in thought, before wondering what they were planning to make, "What's the food?"

" _Teriyaki chicken. Nousku-kun said it looked easy enough,_ " Yukiko replied.

"Oh," Chie said, mouth watering at the idea. "Hey... can I come taste it," Chie asked, already picturing the delicious chicken meat in equally delicious teriyaki sauce.

" _Of course you can come, Chie,_ " Yukiko said, happy to have Chie's faith. " _Actually, why don't you come with us to Junes tomorrow,_ " Yukiko then suggested.

"YES! Of course I'll come," Chie said, and with that, the two exchanged farewells.

"Oohh. I can't wait," Chie exclaimed eagerly, wanting to try Viljam's cooking. "Wait... Nousku-kun's," Chie questioned herself. It was Yukiko and Viljam who were cooking. "Urgh, whatever. At least I get to eat delicious meat again," Chie said dreamily... And then the birthday steak came to her mind again. "Nope! Nope, nope, nope. Not thinking that," Chie tried to tell herself. It was embarrassing enough that she said something like that in front of Viljam, Yukiko and worst of all, her mother. The only thing that could've made it worse was if Yosuke and Rise were there to hear it. "Dammit, I gotta get over it," Chie grumbled before flopping to her bed, trying to think of something else. Anything else...

 **(Junes. August 25th. Morning)**

As promised, Chie came with Viljam and Yukiko to do the grocery shopping. Viljam was holding the list and telling Yukiko what to get, while getting some of the things himself.

Right now, Chie was with Yukiko checking on the milk products section. The black haired girl had a thoughtful look on her face. "Do you think I should add yogurt to make the sauce thicker," Yukiko asked Chie.

"Hmm... Well... I do like the sauce to be thick, but...," Chie said in thought herself. "Ehh, why not," the girl then shrugged. With that, Yukiko reached for a carton.

"Yukiko!" Was the shout that made both girls freeze. "Hands off the carton, and step away from the shelves," Viljam said like a police officer to a criminal.

"But we need something to thicken the sauce," Yukiko said defensively.

"That's what the food starch is for," Viljam replied in annoyance as he approached them. Chie noticed that he was holding a big carton of dark syrup. "Also, condition number two, remember," Viljam reminded sternly.

Yukiko lowered her head in shame, before stepping away from the shelves. "I'm sorry," the girl said meekly.

Chie didn't like whatever was going on," Nousku-kun, what's going on? What's condition two?"

"Yukiko agreed to three conditions," Viljam explained holding up three fingers for emphasis, "Condition one: We follow the recipe to the letter. Condition two: We only use ingredients mentioned in the said recipe. Condition three: I have the final say in whatever we do in this."

"It's true," Yukiko said with a sigh. "But was that syrup in the recipe," Yukiko then asked Viljam, wondering why he has it.

"No, but this isn't for the teriyaki," Viljam replied before moving to the milk product shelves to search for something. "Haa, siinä **(Haa, there)** ," Viljam exclaimed and grabbed a carton of cream.

"But I thought we were making teriyaki," Yukiko asked in confusion. She was pretty sure that cream wasn't mentioned in the recipe.

"We are, I'm just making a dessert," Viljam replied. "I'll still be watching that you follow the recipe to the letter," the Finnish boy added with what he thought was reassurance, but came off as teasing.

"Oh, okay," Yukiko said, though she wasn't sure anymore if that was a good thing.

"So what are you planning to make, Nousku-kun," Chie asked, wondering if she would get some of it.

"It's a surprise, unless you can figure it out," Viljam said, before taking the shopping list out of his pocket, "Okay, we've got food starch, soy sauce and garlic. We still need some vinegar, brown sugar and sesame oil."

Yukiko moved next to Viljam to check the list. "Then we have all we need for the sauce," the girl said, while checking the second part of the list. "But we still need the ingredients for the chicken itself," the girl pointed out.

Viljam hummed in agreement. "How about you and Chie-san take the list and find the rest. I'll catch up, when I've found what I need for the dessert," the Finnish boy said, before going to find the remaining ingredients.

"I'm starting question if this was a good idea," Chie said. When she heard Yukiko and Viljam would do this together, she thought that it would mean just that, instead of him being bossy.

"Chie, this was your idea," Yukiko pointed out matter of factly.

The said girl had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry, but still... Why are you just taking this," Chie said, feeling a little worried about this escalating too much. Then it hit her, "Wait a sec... Is this about what your cooking did to him?". Yukiko's only response was a nod. "Yukiko, you worry too much. I mean, he doesn't even remember," The green clad girl said while patting Yukiko's shoulder supportively.

"Maybe, but I still feel responsible," Yukiko said, feeling a little better. "Also, I think he just wants me to succeed," the black haired girl added as she started walking to the direction of meat stall to get the chicken meat.

Chie followed suit. "If you say so, but if he makes you cry I'm not gonna forgive him," the green clad girl said without really meaning it. It's not that she wouldn't go through with it, it's just that she trusted Viljam not to give her a reason to do so.

Yukiko giggled at that, "I don't think he'll go that far."

With that exchange out of the way, the two moved on in getting rest of the ingredients. Although when they were about to stray from the list, Viljam magically appeared to stop them. Well... magically, as in he somehow snuck up on them, like he's done so many times. Seriously, how does he do that? And how does he always know when they're about to stray from the list.

 **(Amagi Inn. August 25th. Daytime)**

Change of plans. The three ran into Yosuke at Junes, and they heard from him that Yu would be helping Nanako do her homework this evening. How did he know this? Because yesterday he and Teddie went to give Nanako a little something from an event the store had and ended up helping Nanako with her homework.

Yukiko suggested that they would make the teriyaki chicken as a boxed lunch and take it to Nanako and Yu. Chie immediately jumped at the idea. Viljam on the other hand was worried about having to adjust the recipe a little. The recipe was meant for four people so they had to adjust the amount of their intended ingredients to count five people. Still, the Finnish boy agreed.

Now, Yukiko was simmering the sauce in a pot, while Viljam was boiling something else in his own bigger pot. Whatever it was, it seemed like it would boil over any second. And the concoction didn't even fill half of the pot until it started boiling. That's not even counting the size of the pot itself, which was at least twice of what Yukiko was using.

"Alemmas, **(lower)** " Viljam muttered as he lowered the heat on the stove plate he was using.

"Nousku-kun, what are you making," Yukiko asked out of curiosity. The only thing she understood was that the concoction consisted of cream, sugar, two different types of syrup and what seemed like vanilla sugar.

"I guess at this point I can tell you," Viljam said, while stirring his creation. "Cream caramels," the Finnish boy said with a smile.

"Oh," Yukiko said in surprise, before she had a worried look, "Did your sweet stash run out already?". That box that came back in July was pretty big. If everything in that box was eaten in a month, then that's not healthy.

"What sweet stash," asked Chie, who was in the middle of cutting the raw chicken in to pieces. The green clad girl had asked if she could do anything to help. Yukiko suggested that she would cut the chicken into bite sized pieces as the recipe says. Chie agreed, though Viljam made some sort of comment in Finnish that made Yukiko laugh. At Chie's questioning, Yukiko managed to say that it meant "Goat as a cabbage field's guard" through her laughter. If looks could kill, Viljam would've died already, for calling her a goat. Thankfully, the actual meaning was quickly explained, before Chie decided to turn looks into actions. Not that it made the meat loving girl feel less offended. She's not dumb enough to eat uncooked meat, thank you very much. Anyway...

"The one my sisters sent me from Finland," Viljam replied to Chie's question easily before leaving the pot for a moment to get a glass of cold water.

"The one you got back in June right," Chie asked, wanting to be sure.

"Yeah, that," Viljam replied as he returned to the pot and dropped a drop of his concoction into the water glass. The liquid instantly cooled and turned solid. Then Viljam took the now solid piece and rolled it between his fingers. The Finnish boy smiled as the stuff was molding into small ball. "Valmis **(Ready)** ," Viljam said happily before plucking the piece into his mouth. Then he turned off the heat before starting the next phase. Viljam had prepared two square shaped serving plates with baking paper on them to act as molds. "Yukiko, could you put on mittens and help me a little," Viljam asked.

"Of course," Yukiko said, leaving the sauce to quietly stir, while Chie looked at the exchange.

" _Those two sure work well,_ " Chie thought with a tiny pang of jealousy. Chie kinda knew this would happen, since Viljam lives with Yukiko. Just as she finished that thought, she had finished cutting the chicken. "Hey, anything I can do to help," Chie then asked.

"No, we're good," Viljam answered as he and Yukiko poured the hot brown concoction into the second serving plate, since the first one was already full. Viljam was holding the pot by the handles, while Yukiko used mittens to help tilt the pot. "That should be enough," Viljam said as they put the pot on an unused stove plate. "And with that, let's continue with this," Viljam said turning to the simmering sauce. "Chie-san, could you put the chicken pieces into the bowl we chose," Viljam then asked Chie.

"Sure," Chie replied while getting to the said task. After doing that, Yukiko poured in a portion of the sauce before going to check the recipe from the book they had kept with them.

"Now were supposed to leave it for an hour before we start frying them," Yukiko said after reading the next part.

"Good," Viljam said, nodding in satisfaction, "That means I now have the time to put these to cool off." The last phrase was directed on the two plates with the slowly cooling mass of caramel. "Are there any cloths I can use to cover them, Yukiko," Viljam then asked.

"Oh. I'll go get them," Yukiko said, and moving out to do just that. But not before Viljam specified that they have to be clean.

"You really know what you're doing," Chie commented.

"What?"

Chie almost rolled her eyes. "Cooking. You really know how to cook," Chie clarified.

"Aa! Well... we learned a lot from mom. Me and my sisters," Viljam said, "Though I will admit that I didn't always like it." That last one was accompanied by chuckle.

"Why? Not liking girly things," Chie couldn't resist snickering.

Viljam gave Chie a look that said, "Really?". "No I just... Didn't find it fun," Viljam said, straining his memory. "But then one day mom taught me how to use a frying pan, and suddenly I didn't mind," the Finnish boy finished with a small laugh.

Chie nodded in understanding, wishing she could do that. Unfortunately, she was banned from using kitchen at home. Her parents were afraid of her starting another fire.

"Hey..., later this week, would you... like to go to Aiya's sometime," Viljam asked a little shyly, causing Chie to perk up.

"...Are you... asking me on a date," Chie asked, unable to keep the nervousness from mixing with eagerness.

"...If you want to think of it as that." And now Viljam was blushing.

"...Sure," was the only response Chie could give without the fear of stuttering.

"Great," Viljam said eagerly. "Sorry I couldn't think of a better place," the Finnish then apologized.

Chie couldn't help laughing at that. "Oh come on, Aiya's is the best," Chie said happily, before blushing a little, "Although, your steaks are good too."

"Thanks," Viljam said, happy for the compliment. "But... I'm not sure if I should cook for you given the last time," he then said, earning a glare from Chie.

"...Shut up."

"Sorry."

Just then Yukiko returned. "Sorry if I took long," Yukiko said, before feeling the atmosphere, "Did something happen while I was gone?".

"No," Chie quickly said, with Viljam nodding furiously. Then the Finnish boy took the two big cloths and covered the plates with them, making sure that the cloths themselves didn't touch the mass.

 **(Dojima Household. August 25th. Evening)**

Yu was surprised at the surprise visit from Yukiko, Chie and Viljam. But he was more surprised at the fact that they had brought boxed lunches. Viljam was also carrying an extra box, but the Finnish boy wouldn't say what was in it. Anyway, Yu felt a sense of dread at Yukiko wanting them to try the food she had supposedly made. The only reason he wasn't making excuses was that, Viljam promised it would be, at the very least, edible.

"It's delicious," Nanako said happily. The gang had moved into the living room to eat the boxed lunches. Or maybe boxed dinner would be a proper term given the hour. Anyway...

"It is," Yu said, more surprised than anything that Yukiko succeeded. " _There's hope for you yet, Amagi-san,_ " Yu thought.

"Well... Nousku-kun helped me," Yukiko admitted in embarrassment.

"All I did was make sure you followed the recipe," Viljam said supportively, before having an evil smile, "Wasn't easy though."

"Hey!" Yukiko exclaimed in annoyance, "That wasn't nice."

"You were going to pour my syrup into the sauce," Viljam retorted.

"...I don't like you," Yukiko said with a defeated tone.

The Finnish boy was unaffected by the words. "Hey, aside from that, you did great," Viljam said and patted Yukiko's head. Chie kept giving Viljam an annoyed look as this exchange happened

"That wasn't nice," Nanako scolded Viljam.

Viljam smiled at Nanako. "You're right, it wasn't," he admitted.

"Why are you so mean to Yukiko right now," Chie asked, ready to give a piece of her mind if he answered wrong.

"What do you mean," Viljam asked, genuinely confused.

"What do you mean, what do you mean," Chie asked incredulously.

"Chie, it's fine," Yukiko told her best friend before any unnesessary drama happened.

"He doesn't always understand what he's saying," was the explanation that Yukiko gave.

Viljam looked worried at what Yukiko's words, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Yukiko said, before finishing the last of her teriyaki. Nanako and Yu of course savored the delicious meal, while Viljam and Chie devoured theirs pretty fast.

"Amagi-san, keep this up and whoever you marry becomes one of the luckiest guys in the world," Yu couldn't help but say. Seriously, this was a big improvement compared to her previous attempts.

Yukiko couldn't help but blush at the compliment, "I don't know..."

"Come on Yukiko, you did great," Chie agreed with Yu, minus the marrying part. For now anyway.

"Thank you, so much Yukiko-san," Nanako added in happily.

Yukiko had no idea what to say. Sure, Viljam didn't do much in terms of actual cooking, but Yukiko just didn't have it in herself to take all the credit.

"And with that, who wants dessert," Viljam asked, opening the last box. Yu and Nanako were surprised to see it was filled with caramels. They were wrapped in see through wrappings too.

"Where did you buy these," Yu asked, out of curiosity.

"Nowhere, I made them," Viljam answered happily. "Though I had to ask some help in cutting them into pieces and wrapping them," he added, while giving a grateful look to the two girls.

"Can I take some," Nanako asked, eyeing the candies.

It was Yukiko who decided to answer," Of course, Nanako-chan.".

"Yay!" With that Nanako took one caramel, unwrapped it and ate it. "This is great," the eight year old girl exclaimed happily.

"Hmm... Not bad, what recipe did you follow," Yu asked, after tasting one himself.

Viljam looked a little sheepish at that. "I worked that one from memory. Though I wondered what would happen if I added vanilla sugar," the Finnish admitted.

"I thought I tasted vanilla," Yu commented, "It's good."

"Thanks," Viljam said happily.

Yukiko smiled at something she happened to know. "You still didn't have to make so much," she said slyly, earning questioning look from Yu.

"Me and my famous sweet tooth," Viljam replied simply.

"What are you talking about," Yu asked as he couldn't resist taking another one. And neither could Nanako.

Chie grinned at the question. "This isn't even half of what Nousku-kun made," the green clad girl said while pointing at the box, earning wide eyes from Yu.

"Like I said, famous sweet tooth," Viljam replied to the unasked question.

"Uh-huh." Was the most intelligent comment Yu could come up with.

Nanako decided to pipe up again, "Hey big bro, can we continue now?".

"Oh course, Nanako," Yu said, remembering what they were supposed to be doing right about now.

"I can help with your homework if needed," Yukiko offered to Nanako.

"Me too," Chie chimed in.

"I don't know how much help I will be, but I'll do my best too," Viljam said unsurely. He wasn't sure what kind of education kids Nanako's age get in Japan. That's not even counting the fact that Viljam went to a school that specializes in kids with learning disorders or other conditions that hamper their studying. But he was at least going to try.

"Come on Nousku-kun, you're not stupid," Yukiko said enouragingly, knowing what he was probably thinking. And that's coming after she had to correct on his reading occasionally. Not to mention she sometimes questioned, how he became confused on what he was supposed to do. Thankfully, those incidents had become fewer and fewer.

With that encouragement, they got to work on helping Nanako.

 **(Few minutes later)**

Turns out the first order of business was for Nanako to write an essay about something that happened during summer. Yukiko had immediately suggested that Nanako would write about the Summer festival. The little girl was more than happy to do that.

"Hey, Chie. What did you and Nousku-kun do at the festival," Yukiko suddenly asked, causing Chie to tense up and fix an accusing glare at Viljam.

"We just ate some delicious food, tried a few games and she even convinced me to pray at the shrine," Viljam answered truthfully, while trying to subtly motion to Chie not to worry.

Yu knew he shouldn't find amusement in this, but this was just too ridiculous. However, he also knew that he should stay out of this, if only because he didn't feel comfortable about giving anyone ideas about his still questionable relationship with Rise.

"I asked Chie," Yukiko said with a pointed look at Viljam, but soon directed it at Chie.

"Y-yeah. What he said," Chie agreed. "I mean, can you believe this guy thought he was intruding on the shrine," Chie said, earning an embarrassed glare from Viljam at being reminded about that.

Yukiko, kept looking at Chie for a few more moments before smiling again. "I believe you," the black haired girl said, causing Viljam to release a breath, which thankfully happened out of Yukiko's field of vision.

Surprisingly, Nanako kept writing her essay during the commotion, due to Yu telling her this wasn't anything important.

"Hey, Nanako-chan," Viljam decided to pipe up," What did you do with your dad at the festival?".

Nanako looked up from her work to smile. "We tried the shooting game, then I tried to get a gold fish, then we ate okonomiyaki, and..." From there Nanako couldn't help but list all the things she and her dad did together. Then she looked thoughtfully at Viljam, "Why did you look so angry?".

"Täh?" Viljam sounded out.

Nanako shifted awkwardly, "You looked angry when dad and I passed you guys at the takoyaki stall."

Yu decided to answer for Viljam on this one, "It's because Teddie did something mean to us and Viljam took it more personally than the rest of us.".

"Why?"

This time Viljam answered himself. "That's... something I'm not comfortable talking about. Especially because it's a little stupid," The last sentence was said in embarrasment. Viljam did not want to tell Nanako that he hated Teddie for stealing the girl he likes, especially with Yukiko around. Chie he didn't mind telling if they were alone.

"Are you still fighting," Nanako asked with slight worry.

"No," Viljam said with a smile. "I'm still a little annoyed at him, but I'm not tempted to... hit him anymore," Viljam said, self-censoring the last part.

"Well, it's good that you've forgiven him," Yukiko said, not quite sure what Teddie could've done to make Viljam hate him.

"Yeah," Viljam said, though he wasn't sure if he had entirely forgiven Ted. "Anyway, I think we're getting a little off topic here," The Finnish boy then pointed out.

"Oh right! We're probably distracting Nanako-chan," Chie exclaimed in realization.

"It's okay, I'm almost done," Nanako said, returning to writing.

"Already?" Yu questioned, moving to look over Nanako's essay. To his surprise, Nanako had written a lot. "You're good Nanako," Yu complimented her writing.

"Thanks," Nanako said happily.

Viljam got curious too and decided to see the progress. "If I can understand this, anyone can," the Finnish boy said supportively.

This evening was starting to become more fun.

"Oh, by the way, Nousku-kun, Chie. Have you two done your homework yet," Yukiko asked just to be sure they had.

Chie's face fell at hearing that. "Urgh... No I haven't," she grumbled.

Yukiko shook her head at hearing that. "Chie, you should do them, or else you will get in trouble," the black haired girl scolded.

"Yeah, I know," Chie grumbled, not looking forward to the work she had to do.

Satisfied at Chie's answer, Yukiko turned towards Viljam, "What about you, Nousku-kun." The Finnish boy just stared at Yukiko nervously. The said girl crossed her arms at the unvoiced answer."You haven't have you." It wasn't a question, but a matter of fact statement.

"...I forgot," Viljam said with little confidence.

* * *

 **AN: Looks like Yukiko is one step closer to losing her title of "poison chef"... Or maybe this was just a fluke. Also, Viljam just proved the saying, "What you leave behind, you find in front of you." to be true.**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

 **AN: So sorry for taking this long! I had a serious case of inspiration loss, but I managed to get this chapter out of the way.**

 **Anyway, my cousin's wedding went well and he's happily married. Not only that, but Vietnam itself was pretty interesting visit. My favorite part was going through the underground tunnels. And... well, we got to see both sides of the Vietnam war. As a Finnish I don't have much of an opinion, other than a lot of damage done for nothing, like wars usually are. But that's a topic I'd rather not dwell on.**

 **In other news, I got Persona 5 and am currently trying to play it through. Seems like a great game so far.**

* * *

 **(Junes. August 26th. Daytime)**

Viljam had a brilliant idea about the candies he made. As Chie said, he didn't even bring half of what he managed to make to Dojima household. Anyway, the idea was, that Viljam would go to Teddie and use the candies to bribe the bear to not call him Villy anymore. The Finnish boy shook his head at his memories of the third grade, not only did that girl make that school year a living hell, but it caused him to almost go through with some of the stupidest ideas he came up with in his life.

Anyway, Viljam called Yosuke if Teddie was available right now, but the Junes boy was already on his shift with Teddie. Oh well, he just had to go to Junes to get this over with.

So here he was at the food court, sitting and watching Teddie do his job. Entertaining kids and giving out pamphlets of what Viljam assumed were ongoing sales. Soon that bear would get a break and he would get rid of one problem he has with the said bear.

"Hey, Villy!" Speak of the fuzzball.

"Teddie, don't call me Villy," Viljam said, already annoyed at the nickname.

"Why not," Teddie asked innocently, earning a sigh from the Finnish boy.

"Look... a long time ago, someone who bullied me kept calling me that. It brings bad memories," Viljam said, earning wide eyes from Teddie.

"...I'm sorry." The bear couldn't possibly look sadder, and it was tugging at Viljam's heartstrings.

"Ted, just don't call me that anymore and it's fine," Viljam tried consoling the bear, before smiling, "Besides..." Then he opened the small paper bag he used to carry the candies, "...if you promise you won't ever call me that again, you can have these."

Teddie took one look at the candies, before answering. "Okay, Nouskuttaja," Teddie exclaimed happily, earning a surprised look from Viljam, who noticed too late that the bear had snatched the bag and was devouring the candies.

"Where did you learn that?" Was the most intelligent thing Viljam was able to say.

"Yofuke towf me awut yu cawin im Yofuttaja," Teddie said with his mouth full.

"Swallow and try again," Viljam said, not understanding what the bear was saying.

The said bear did just that before trying again, "Yosuke told me about you calling him Yosuttaja... By the way, what does it mean?" The last sentence was said with childlike curiosity.

Viljam looked thoughtful for a moment at the question, "...Yosuttaja doesn't really mean anything."

"Then why did you say it," Teddie asked with childlike curiosity in his eyes.

"It's a Finnish thing, I don't know if Japanese have the words to even describe it," the Finnish boy said sincerely. It wasn't even a lie, Viljam wasn't sure if he could explain this to a non-Finnish even if he wanted to.

"Come on, now you got me curious! Please, tell me," Teddie pleaded, trying to look cute, "Please, please, please, please, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase."

Viljam shook his head at Teddie's antics. "Okay, I'll try at least," Viljam said, earning a cheer from Teddie. "Now how should I go about this...," the Finnish boy hummed in thought.

.

.

.

"Aren't you going to tell me," Teddie asked after a long moment of silence.

"Still working on it," Viljam replied, just before realization hit him, "You know how someone who plays games is called a gamer?".

"Yes."

"Good, the -ttaja part of Yosuttaja holds the same principle," Viljam said slowly.

"...I don't get it," Teddie said, yet still looked as cheerful as ever.

"*sigh* -ttaja is said when... Urgh, I don't know how to say it," Viljam complained, still desperately trying to come up with an explanation. But then he decided to use desperate measures, even if the said measure sounds stupid, "The best way I can say is... Yosuttaja roughly translates to... Yosuer." And now Viljam felt ashamed of himself. It just doesn't sound right unless it's said in Finnish.

"Oh... What does that mean," Teddie asked innocently again, causing Viljam to hit his head on the table.

" _Tässä menee hetki_ _ **(This will take a moment)**_ _._ "

 **(Inaba Shopping District. August 26th. Daytime)**

Yu and Rise hung out today, even though they still had some homework to do and summer vacation was slowly drawing to a close. So how did Rise convince Yu to hang out today? She didn't. It was Yu who asked her out... not like a date though.

Anyway, the two just walked around and talked about various things. Now though, Yu was walking Rise home for a reason he didn't think he would hear. She had to finish her homework. She probably would've squealed if the silver haired leader of the Investigation team had voiced being a little proud of her.

Now, the two have arrived just outside the tofu shop. "I had lots of fun today, Senpai," Rise said happily.

"I did too," Yu replied in kind. "But now you have to finish the rest of your homework," the silver haired boy said, which made Rise deflate ever so slightly.

"Yeah... Hey, would like to take some tofu home," Rise then asked.

"Sure," Yu shrugged, before taking steps to the still open shop.

That is, until Rise stopped him. "Uh-uh. I'll get them for you. You just stay here for a moment," the auburn haired girl said, before moving to do just that.

That left Yu a little confused. How was he supposed to pay for them if he didn't enter the shop? " _Or did she mean she would give the tofu as a gift?_ " Yu couldn't help but think.

"Excuse me." Was the sentence that snapped Yu back at attention. The person who spoke was none other than Rise's manager, Inoue. Or former manager actually. "You're Narukami-san, yes," the man asked almost warily.

"That's right, and you're Rise-chan's former manager," Yu replied simply. The man seemed at least reasonable the last time Yu saw him, so he wasn't too wary yet.

Inoue looked surprised for a moment, before deciding to simply get to what he came for. "Well... you are correct. I am Minoru Inoue," Inoue introduced himself, before fishing a letter from his pocket, "This came to the office. Could you pass it to Rise-chan.".

Yu eyed the letter, before giving a questioning look at Inoue, "Why can't you give it yourself?".

The man sighed at the question. "I'm afraid she won't accept it from me," Inoue sighed. "And Rise-chan always looked forward to this girl's letters," the suited man then explained.

"A fan letter?" Yu parroted, before eyeing the offered letter again. "Alright, I will pass this on to Rise-chan," Yu said, taking the letter.

"Thank you," Inoue said, looking somewhat relieved.

Just then, Rise came back out. "Sorry, senpai. They were sold-Inoue-san!?" the girl exclaimed at the sight of her former manager. Before the man could even speak up, Rise ran up to them to shout, "What did you say to Senpai!? Go away, before I call the police!"

Yu was really impressed at the speed Inoue left at. But he was more disappointed at how Rise dealt with this. "Did you have to be so harsh on him," Yu asked calmly.

Rise looked shocked at that. "What!? How can you say that," Rise asked in outrage, "He's practically stalking me now!"

Yu didn't really know Inoue, but as he thought before the man was at least reasonable. Also, Rise shouldn't have immediately started shouting. Well... that's not really his business, so... "Inoue-san asked me to give you this," Yu said, presenting the fan letter.

Rise glanced at the letter angrily, but then her features softened as she red who the sender was. Rise quickly took the letter and opened it. As Rise red the letter Yu studied her face for any reaction. It seemed like whatever was in the letter made the girl's face look forlorn, sad and happy in rapid succession... or all three at once. Then she looked up at Yu, "...Yu-senpai... do you still have free time?"

Yu was a little taken back by the request that almost sounded like pleading. "Yes," was the simple answer.

"Then... there's one more place I'd like to go to," Rise said while giving a grateful smile.

 **(Tatsuhime shrine. Few minutes later)**

The place where Rise wanted Yu to go to was the Tatsuhime shrine. Yu couldn't immediately understand why, but figured that this is as good place as any to contemplate things. Currently the two were sitting on the steps right in front of the shrine itself.

"...When Inoue-san gave you that letter, did he say anything about it," Rise asked.

"He only said you looked forward to that girl's letters," Yu responded honestly.

"He wasn't wrong," Rise sighed in response, "That girl is a middle-school student. She wrote- No. I guess she still does write to me.". Yu nodded in understanding, waiting for Rise to continue. "I did a campaign service once to stop bullying. She said it inspired her... To not let bullies get her down," the auburn haired girl continued with a faint smile. Yu could only nod in understanding, because speaking up now felt wrong. " Since then, she would write me about things like, 'This happened today' or 'I was able to say this," Rise said fondly, "Every time I red one of her letters... I felt like Risette actually meant something." That last sentence was accompanied by an almost sad smile.

"It sounds like you had at least one fan who considered you more than a 'celebrity'," Yu said, smiling at her.

"I guess...," Rise mumbled, before clamming up.

.

.

.

"Are you okay, Rise-chan," Yu asked, after several seconds of silence. Rise seemed to be in deep thought, but hopefully it wasn't anything depressing.

"I let her down by quitting," Rise finally said.

"What do you mean," Yu asked, even though he had an idea.

"Officially I'm on a break due to an illness, but...," Rise said, letting the sentence hang, until she looked to Yu. "Before that, there was a talk about a part in a movie. She sounded like she looked forward to it," the auburn haired girl continued.

"The one Inoue-san mentioned when we first saw him, right?" Yu said, more for confirmation than anything.

"Yes," Rise confirmed, "... But then I gave up on being Risette... I can't meet her expectations."

"I'm sure she'll understand," Yu said in an attempt to cheer her up.

"...I don't know," Rise mumbled, barely audible. Then she perked up again, "Hey, Senpai! What if I inherited the shop?"

"Huh?" That came out of nowhere.

"I'm the main attraction there now. So I'm sure I can make it thrive," Rise said happily.

"...Sure, I guess," Yu said, not really sure if he understood what was going on in Rise's head anymore.

Then Rise got up on her feet and turned to face Yu. "...Senpai, about that lie I made you play along with...," she started shyly, "What if..., we made that a truth?" And now Rise was blushing heavily.

"...I," Yu stammered, feeling like he was thrown under a buss. "...I, don't think I'm ready to think about that yet," the silver haired boy said nervously. The truth is, he never really thought about getting married. Such thjing being a pretty big decision was just one reason.

"Oh, I see," Rise said, not even sounding disappointed. "I guess you wouldn't be. I'm sorry Senpai," Rise apologized half heartedly.

"It's fine," Yu replied dismissively, pushing the previous part of the conversation to the back of his mind for now.

Unknowing of what was going on in Yu's head, Rise smiled. "Thank you, Senpai. Not just for right now but for everything," Rise then said, throwing Yu for another loop.

"What? What everything," Yu couldn't help but ask. He hadn't done anything special for Rise. At least he thought he hadn't.

"It's okay if you don't understand," was all Rise said with a mysterious smile, "Anyway, thanks for hanging out with me today."

"...Sure," Yu said, despite wondering what Rise meant with "everything".

After that, the two exchanged farewells, though Yu was still confused.

 **(Dojima household. August 26th. Evening)**

Once again, Yu was helping Nanako with her homework, although all he really did this time was make a spell check on her writing. The said writing being Nanako's book report. The book seemed to be a little sad if Nanako's expression was any indication.

Then the little girl turned to Yu. "Big bro... Are you happy when you're alone," Nanako asked a little awkwardly.

The question surprised Yu a little, but... "No... I'm not," Yu answered honestly.

"Oh good! Neither am I," Nanako replied happily.

" _Who would be,_ " Yu thought. He wouldn't say he was unhappy before coming to Inaba, but now... He was wondering how he was able to stand living the way he has until now. How did this happen? Just before coming to Inaba he didn't really care about anything. But now... Yu wished he had lived here from the start. Okay, maybe not from the start, but still he would've been much happier here. Then again... maybe he wouldn't have befriended everyone like he has now. Chie was interested in the newcomers, which is why she approached both him and Viljam. Yosuke he decided to pull out of a trash can when the Junes boy had fallen into it. That was still funny. Anyway, then because of the cases Yu, Yosuke and Chie banded together and saved Yukiko and Viljam. Later on, Kanji and Rise had become part of the team, due to the cases. " _I wish this could last,_ " Yu thought in melancholy, remembering that he would return to Tokyo next Spring. However, he could still call or text everyone when he could. And maybe even visit them... " _Except Viljam,_ " the silver haired boy thought with a small sigh. Though now Yu wondered how Viljam would be like when he has to return home.

"Big bro?" Was the question that snapped Yu out of his thoughts. His gaze turned to Nanako, who looked a little worried, "Are you okay?".

"It's nothing, Nanako," Yu said reassuringly, "Just thinking about things.".

"What kind of things," Nanako asked with a head tilt.

"...Grown up things," Yu said, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of a better excuse.

That phrase earned a pout from Nanako,"That's not fair!". Nanako had heard that too many times from her father whenever she asked certain questions.

"Sorry, Nanako," Yu apologized sheepishly. "But honestly, it's nothing too important," Yu then tried to persuade Nanako to drop the subject.

She did drop it, but she was still pouting.

" _Sorry, Nanako. But this is something I have to deal with on my own,_ " Yu thought. Everyone has their own problems. So why should Yu bother them with his own?

 **(Amagi Inn (Viljam's room). August 27th. Daytime)**

As much as Viljam didn't feel like it, he started doing his homework as soon as he ate breakfast. Yukiko offered to help, but the Finnish boy assured her that he could do this. Which he was... with minor difficulties. For as Viljam's father kept telling the boy, he's not stupid. Just has difficulty understanding things... Okay, the last part was made up by Viljam, but the point stands.

Interestingly enough, Viljam found the time to wonder if he should ask Chie out when he was done. Assuming she wasn't busy with anything, like her own homework. "Olisikohan pitänyt kysyä **(Should I have asked)** ," Viljam muttered to himself. Referring to asking if him and Chie could do their homework together. That plan was quickly discarded, because Viljam was afraid that he wouldn't be able to help Chie. Speaking of helping, the Inn had a non-busy day, and Viljam had heard that Yukiko went out today.

Viljam's pen stopped flaming when he heard his phone ringing. From Chie apparantely. "Heippa," Viljam answered the phone.

" _Hello,_ " Chie replied from her end of the line, " _Are you busy right now?_ "

"I'm trying to do my summer homework. Why?" Viljam asks even as he wrote another answer down.

" _You are!? Why didn't you call me!?_ " Chie almost sounded offended.

"Ööö... What?" Viljam sounded out. He did not understand why the girl sounded angry.

" _We could've studied together,_ " Chie said, now sounding annoyed.

"Sorry, but I don't know if that would help," Viljam said almost sounding ashamed.

" _...Do you think I'm dumb,_ " Chie asked, earning raised eyebrows from Viljam.

"What? Where did that come from," Viljam asked in confusion.

" _You think I'm gonna slow you down,_ " Chie accused.

"No I don't!" Viljam retorted, "I'm the one who's gonna slow you down!".

" _And how exactly would you do that,_ " Chie asked, totally unconvinced.

Viljam took a deep breath before answering, "...I... Because I don't know if I can help you with anything.".

" _...You're an idiot,_ " Chie said, sounding disappointed instead of angry.

And before Viljam could ask what that meant, Chie cut the call. "En tajua mitään **(I don't understand anything)** ," Viljam said to no one in particular while staring at his phone. He just didn't understand what Chie was talking about right now. Why couldn't she understand that it wasn't about her. He just doesn't get it.

 **(Chie's house. Roughly the same time)**

"That idiot should've at least asked," Chie grumbled as she returned her study materials into her bag, "Now he's going to have to deal with me." That sentence was followed by an evil snicker.

Soon enough, Chie went out, telling her mom that she would go to Yukiko's place.

 **(Viljam's room. Several minutes later)**

Although his concentration has waned a little, Viljam was still making progress. He did hit a few roadblocks on what he was supposed to be doing, but as soon as he moved on to easier to understand problems, it just hit him... And he felt stupid for not realizing sooner.

His next scribbling was interrupted by someone unceremoniously opening the door to his room. To Viljam's surprise, the intruder was Chie, and she was carrying her back pack.

"Hello, Nousku-kun," Chie greeted with enough cheer to ring warning bells in Viljam's head.

"Mitä- What are you doing here," Viljam quickly asked, not sure if this surprise was pleasant or not.

"I came to study with you. Or what does it look like," Chie said even as she sat down on Viljam's couch table and taking out her study material.

"But... B-but," Viljam stammered not sure if he was supposed to be annoyed at the intrusion, glad to see Chie, or feel dread at when the girl would ask for help and he wouldn't be able to give it.

"No buts," Chie said firmly. "So, what were you doing," Chie then asked, completely ignoring Viljam's blanched look.

"...Page 68 of calculus," Viljam responded dumbly.

"Great! Let's get cracking," Chie said, cracking her knuckles for emphasis. Which earned her a sweat drop from the Finnish boy. But he moved to the opposite side of the table anyway.

 **(Junes. August 27th. Daytime)**

Yukiko was trying to decide what to make today. Now that she made one dish right, her spirit has been lifted once again. So here she was at the grocery section, trying to get an inspiration on what to make. With little success.

"*sigh* So many options, but I just... can't think of anything," Yukiko sighed to herself. Maybe she should've picked a recipe before moving out. Well... too late for that now.

"Yukiko-san!" Was the exclamation that earned the Amagi heiress' attention.

"Nanako-chan? Narukami-kun," Yukiko exclaimed in surprise, "What're you doing here?".

"Grocery shopping," Yu replied easily, "What about you?".

The black haired girl sighed at the question, "I'm trying to decide what to cook next, but I just can't think of anything.".

"Oh? Is Nousuku-san helping again," Nanako asked eagerly, misspelling Viljam's name in the process. The only reason she isn't using Viljam's first name is because she can't spell it right, which was a little frustrating to the little girl.

Yukiko smiled, but decided not to correct Nanako. Instead, "No. This time, I'm doing it myself." And the determination was practically radiating out of her.

"...Alright," Yu said unsurely, not even sure if Yukiko was ready to cook on her own yet.

"What if you make omelette with fried rice again," Nanako suddenly suggested, "Maybe he will come to love it this time."

That made Yukiko perk up, "Of course! He did say he could get used to it.". But then a certain fact worried Yukiko, "But if he didn't like Narukami-kun's cooking then how could he like mine?".

Yu had a perfect counter for that, "It could've just been the recipe I used.". That phrase earned Yukiko's attention. "Just use a different one, probably one that fits his tastes," the silver haired boy continued.

Yukiko had a thoughtful look at that, before the lightbulb went off in her head. "That's it! Thank you, Narukami-kun," Yukiko said before leaving the two to get the ingredients she had in mind.

When Yukiko left, Nanako turned towards Yu, "Do you think Nousuku-san likes what Yukiko-san makes?".

"I don't know," Yu replied honestly. Well... Yukiko will do fine if she sticks to whatever Viljam taught her... Hopefully. "So, should we find those pickled radishes for your dad," Yu then changed the topic.

"Yeah," Nanako said happily. And with that, they got to it.

 **(Dojima household. August 27th. Evening)**

Nanako had just gone to bed. And now Yu was about to go to bed himself. That is, until his phone rang.

Sighing a little bit, Yu picked up the phone and checked the ID. "What does he want this late," Yu wondered before answering. "Yes?"

" _Why did you tell Yukiko to make an omelette out of jelly?_ " Came the annoyed voice of Viljam.

"...What?"

" _You heard me! Yukiko made an omelette with fried rice and added jelly into it, it was disgusting,_ " The Finnish boy said, sounding increasingly irate towards the end.

"...I told her to use a recipe that fits your tastes," Yu said calmly, already regretting his words.

" _... And that gave her the idea that mixing jelly with omelette was a good idea,_ " Viljam said, now sounding more tired, " _I hate to say that I can easily see that happening*sigh*._ "

"Didn't you like sweets," Yu couldn't help asking.

" _...Are you mocking me? Candies are sweet, pastries are sweet, ice cream is sweet. But omelette is NOT sweet,_ " Viljam said raising his voice at the "NOT".

"Okay... Did you give the same speech to Yukiko," Yu asked, fearing that Viljam might've hurt Yukiko's feelings. If he did, the silver haired boy knew he would be partially responsible.

" _...No. But I think she got the idea when my face twisted at the taste,_ " Viljam sighed, " _She seems alright, but she's probably at least frustrated._ "

"Well... I'm going to take partial responsibility for this, so sorry for not being specific," Yu said even though for all intents and purposes he didn't do anything wrong.

" _Don't worry too much... Honestly, I'm starting to think Yukiko's problem with cooking isn't in her skill but her common sense,_ " Viljam said.

"...I wish you were joking, but you might be onto something," Yu said, realizing from past experience that Yukiko always wanted to use ingredients that don't make sense.

" _Yeah... So, did you know there's a fireworks festival next monday,_ " Viljam then asked, changing the topic.

Yu raised an eyebrow at the question, "Yes, why?"

" _...Just wondering if you planned to go watch it too,_ " Viljam said, sounding a little too unsure for Yu not to get suspicious.

But he decided to ignore it for now. "Well, Nanako at least wanted to go watch it, and uncle Dojima promised to take her there. So I'm at least planning to go with them," Yu revealed.

" _I see. Well anyway, sorry for taking my frustration out on you. Good night._ "

"Good night," Yu said and the call was cut. "Guess she still has a long way to go," Yu shrugged, before folding out his futon so he could get to sleep too.

 **(Inaba. August 30th. Evening)**

Earlier in the day, Yu got a call from Rise suggesting to go seeing the fireworks festival with everyone. Yu was a little surprised that she didn't request it just the two of them, but he said yes anyway.

Currently, most of the gang was walking up the steps of a hill near the Samegawa floodplain. According to Yukiko, that place would have the best view. And for everyone's relief, next to no people.

"How'd you find a quiet spot like this, Amagi-senpai," Kanji asked, still in slight awe that this place was so quiet. The riverbank was full after all.

"Oh, I knew about it," Yukiko replied with a smile, "I pass by the mountain side all the time. Even our customers ask about them.

"Lucky us," Viljam commented. More than relieved that there weren't too many people.

"But is Nanako-chan going to make it," Chie then asked Yu, "The fireworks will start soon."

"Uncle Dojima promised that he would come here with Nanako on time," Yu reassured. Even though he wondered if Dojima was planning to keep that promise.

"Say... Yosuke, where's Teddie," Viljam asked wondering why the bear wasn't here yet.

"Don't care," Yosuke grumbled.

"Huh?"

"I said, I don't care right now," Yosuke clarified.

"Why not," Chie asked, "He's gonna miss the fireworks."

That earned a sigh from Yosuke. "He was striking out with the ladies and accidentally put moves on Ohtani-san," the Junes boy relented.

"Whoa!" Came from everyone who had at least seen Hanako Ohtani.

"So she tried dragging him away and he hid in his costume, but he still got dragged away," Yosuke added in.

"Ouch... That's bad," Kanji commented in sympathy.

An emotion that wasn't shared by Yosuke at the moment, "Well the little runt had it coming. Actually, I'd even send three Ohtani-san's at him if I could!"

Now Yu was worried, "Yosuke... What did Teddie do to you to make you say that?"

"That idiot brought a magazine from my private collection to Hanamura breakfast table asking, 'Yosuke, what's this magazine about'," Yosuke explained visibly cringing at the memory, "Can you believe the humiliation I had to go through from that?"

It took varying lengths of moments for most people to figure out what that meant, but once they did, a variety of reactions came out. Yu shook his head, Chie glared at Yosuke, Yukiko looked a little confused, Rise had a look of disapproval, Viljam smiled evily for some reason and Kanji was with Yukiko in confusion.

"Is this really something you want to talk about with girls around," Rise asked with a sweatdrop.

Before anyone could answer that, Teddie arrived in his costume... And he was banged up and flat. "Urgh... My fur is completely ruined," the abused bear moaned in agony.

"...That's... worse than I expected," Yosuke commented, having gained a tiny amount of sympathy. Then the Junes boy sighed, "Just come out of that costume.".

"But I'm like a newborn child inside. Just like those women in your magazine, Yosuke," Teddie whined.

"Shut up, you stupid bear!"

At that moment realization hit Yukiko and Kanji. And Viljam was trying and failing to hold in snickering.

"Nousku-kun," Yukiko said in a warning tone.

"Sorry, but I can't help but wonder if it was the same one Yosuke tried to shove in my face," Viljam said through his snickering.

"What!?" Came out of all girls and Kanji.

"No it wasn't," Yosuke said automatically. Then he realized what he just confessed, "Wait! That's got nothing to do with anything!"

"Hanamura...," Chie said in a warning tone, "What. Did. You. Do?".

Surprisingly it was Viljam who decided to answer, "Short version is, he told me to close my eyes until he told otherwise and I was stupid enough to go with it.".

"Uh-huh," Chie commented while giving a side glare at Yosuke.

"...I think this is a topic we should all forget," Yu said, worried about things escalating too much. That surprisingly made Chie and Yosuke to calm down somewhat. But the green clad girl planned to grill Yosuke or Viljam about this later.

"Big bro!" Came the voice of Nanako from the steps, with her father not far behind. Surprisingly, Nanako was wearing her yukata.

Everyone turned to face the little girl, except Teddie who ran off somewhere.

"Nanako, you're here," Yu responded, happy to see she and Dojima made it in time.

"Yeah, dad came home early," Nanako said cheerfully.

"I had some paperwork to finish, but I figured Adachi could handle it," Dojima said, still not proud of piling his work on his partner... Or maybe just from skipping work.

"I feel bad for Adachi, but I'm happy to see you both made it," Yu replied to Dojima who chuckled in good nature.

Then Teddie came back, out of his costume. Despite his claim about being like a newborn in his costume, he had his clothes on. More importantly, despite his costume's state, Teddie's human body seemed perfectly fine. "Hey there, little lady. Wanna launch some fireworks of love with me," Teddie asked Nanako suavely, earning a face-palm from Viljam and Yu.

"How do you do that," Nanako asked innocently.

Before Teddie could answer, Chie stepped in."Quit it, Teddie!" she hissed, "Do you want Dojima-san to haul you in!?". True to Chie's words, Dojima looked... unamused to say the least.

"Hey guys! Things look to be heating up down there," Kanji warned everyone, earning their attention.

"Oh! Does that mean it's going to be starting soon," Yukiko said eagerly. And right as Yukiko finished that sentence, the first of the fireworks were launched.

Everyone watched the beautiful colors explode in the sky, and true to Yukiko's words, this hill had at least a great view.

Yu glanced at everyone. Chie of course had to holler "Hamaya", while Teddie made his own variation. And Nanako went and tried it. That was funny, but not as funny as Chie trying to get Viljam to holler with her. It took some coercion, but the Finnish boy finally did it, much to the said boy's embarrassment. Yukiko patted Viljam's head to congratulate him. Even Dojima was smiling at both the fireworks, and the kids' antics.

After some time, they heard the loudspeaking announcement of the festival's conclusion.

"That was awesome," Chie cheered, "Totally worth coming here."

"Because you got to stuff yourself with snacks," Yosuke commented.

"So were you," Chie retorted.

"An extra large steak bowl doesn't qualify as a snack," the Junes boy countered.

"Did you have fun, Nanako-chan," Yukiko asked, ignoring the two.

Nanako responded by humming in delight. Then she yawned, "...I'm sleepy."

"That's not surprising," Dojima said with a smile, "It's about time for you to go to bed.". Dojima then turned towards the teens, "I'll take Nanako home. You kids better not stay up too late."

"We won't," Yu spoke for everyone.

After everyone bid farewell, Nanako and Dojima left. And with that, the gang was left with each other.

"Man, it just hit me that... Summer is just about over," Kanji said in slight melancholy.

"Urgh... Why did you have to bring that up," Chie griped.

"There's nothing we can do about that," Yu said with a fond look, "But at least we had fun, right?"

"Yeah, but the Summer festival was ruined because of a certain someone," Yosuke sighed.

"Who?" Came from Teddie.

"You! Dumbass!" Yosuke shouted, before looking more crestfallen, "I was expecting something more... bittersweet stuff. Right?" That last part was directed at Yu.

"...I don't know about bittersweet, but it was fun," Yu said with a faint smile at the memory.

"What's that supposed to mean," Yosuke asked, before his eyes widened, "Don't tell me... Did you go with someone else the next day!?"

That earned a faint blush from Rise, which was thankfully only noticed by Chie and Viljam. Yukiko on the other hand had a question mark.

"Was Narukami-kun with you, Nousku-kun," the Amagi heiress asked, which made her guest brother tense.

"What!?" Came out of Yosuke, "You too!? Who were you two with!?"

"Oh, they were-oomph," Yukiko's reply was cut off by a nudge from Chie who's face had gone red. "Oh, right! Nousku-kun said he went with Narukami-kun," Yukiko corrected herself. Unfortunately Yosuke looked unconvinced.

"Dude... Is that why you... h-have no problem with...," Kanji stammered, unable to complete that sentence.

That earned a blanched look from Yosuke and Teddie. The two slowly glanced between Yu and Viljam who at this point were covering their faces with their hands.

"That's... that would explain a lot," Yosuke said with a weirded out look.

"What's that supposed to mean," Viljam asked with a death glare.

"Nothing!" Yosuke said, quickly putting his hands up in defense.

"Can we just... forget about this," Yu all but begged, "It would be better for all of us.".

"Y-yeah... Definitely," Rise stammered out.

At that moment, Yukiko decided to worsen the situation again, "Oh shouldn't we have invited Naoto-kun?" Or not.

"Why is that," Yu asked, hoping that this would be what they needed to get out of the uncomfortable topic.

"Well, he did say that the case is over," Kanji said, feeling the beginnings of a blush.

"Well... When you put it that way, then we were working on the same case," Yosuke pointed out, seemingly forgetting the previous topic.

"But now that the case is over, the police probably won't need him now," Yu added in.

That also made Rise think, "Well, when you put it that way, we might never see him again.". Then she looked a little down, "Though I don't want to leave things like last time. I said some harsh things."

"Nothing you can do now," Kanji sighed.

"Plus I doubt he would've accepted even if we had invited him," Yosuke added in.

"It's possible," Yu shrugged, "But it's also possible that he would've accepted. Not that we can find out now."

"Sadly true," Viljam commented, "For all we know he could be working on another case somewhere already."

"He did sound busy," Yukiko agreed.

"Well, doesn't matter now. Besides, with his looks he could've been a roadblock," Yosuke commented again.

"Yosuke, you really only think about girls huh," Teddie said, earning a tick mark from Yosuke.

"You're one to talk!?"

"How about desperate?" Came from serious sounding Viljam.

"SHUT UP!"

Cue everyone laughing.

* * *

 **AN: That Fireworks festival twist... I just couldn't resist. Anyway, from here on the story should pick up once again. Also I have big plans for a certain event... Well, big and big.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and I'll see you next time.**


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

 **AN: Well, here's the next chapter. And I realized a little something... While I have mostly drafted the entire script for the events... I have a problem with coming up with things, in between. Early on I decided to skip several days when I felt like it so I could be more liberal about them. That, and I believe readers would occasionally like picturing what happened during those skipped days.**

 **Also... Having played through Persona 5 has distracted me. Mostly, because I'm trying to get the platinum trophy. Would be the first time I have platinum'd a game. Except maybe Xenoblade Chronicles.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. September 1st. Early morning)**

Well... School has finally started again. Yu didn't mind it that much, because he was mentally prepared since yesterday. Speaking of yesterday, the gang enjoyed a watermelon together at Yu's place. Sadly the watermelon was cut before hand so they didn't get to smash it. On a more funny note the gang found out something funny about Viljam. He hates watermelons. That caused quite a stir, what with everyone questioning how someone can even hate watermelons. But Viljam countered with, "I don't understand how anyone can like this thing."

Anyway, on his way, Yu was joined by Yukiko, Chie, Yosuke and Viljam. And they had some small talk about how the Summer vacation was too short, especially for Viljam.

"I still can't believe you're used to having two and half months of Summer vacation," Chie commented on Viljam's mention about it.

"And I still can't believe that you even have school on saturdays," Viljam countered good naturedly. That thing was a major culture shock for him, but he adjusted relatively well.

"You say that, but you've only complained once," Yu retorted.

"Whining about it doesn't help," Viljam responded simply.

Before anyone could respond to that, they took notice of a little something beside the school gate.

"Good morning," said Naoto who looked like he was waiting.

"Y-you! You're that...uh... pint-sized detective," Yosuke managed to say.

"*snrk* *Ahhahahaa* Pint-sized *kihhihii*"

"Nousku-kun! That's rude," Yukiko scolded.

"I know *kihhih* sorry." The said boy was desperately trying to stop laughing and was failing miserably.

Naoto was not amused at this. "My name is Naoto. Please don't give people bizarre nicknames," the so called "pint-sized" detective said. He then directed a highly disapproving look at the still laughing Viljam, "And please stop laughing at the said bizarre nicknames."

"Don't mind him," Yu said in an attempt to salvage the situation, "He has a weird sense of humor."

"Sorry," Viljam said again, finally calm, but he still let a snicker every few seconds.

"Um... Naoto-kun," Yukiko butted in, hoping to distract the boy detective from Viljam's blunder, "You do know this is a high school, right?"

Naoto frowned at the question. "I do. After all, I am going to attend here from today onwards," Naoto replied curtly. Surprising everyone. "My cooperation with the police has ended, however there are still aspects to the case to which I remain unconvinced," Naoto explained, "Also, there are family related issues as well, so I will remain in this town for the time being.". After that explanation, everyone realized that Naoto was wearing the summer uniform of Yasogami high.

"I see," Yu responded, wondering what Naoto meant by being "unconvinced". "What year are you in," Yu then asked out of curiosity.

"First year," Naoto replied simply, earning surprised looks from everyone. "On that note, I also felt that I should introduce myself to you all," Naoto added, and then walked off.

"...Seriously? That guy's our kohai and he's a detective," Yosuke commented in amazement.

"That's... kinda cool," said Viljam, who had stopped snickering.

"Yes," Yukiko said, before directing a disapproving look at Viljam, "Which is why you shouldn't have laughed at him."

"*sigh* I'll have to apologize later," Viljam conceded, earning a nod of approval from Yukiko.

"And so does Hanamura," Chie added in.

"What!? What did I do!?"

"You're the one who called him pint-sized detective," Chie said, giving the Junes boy a disapproving look.

Yosuke did not like the accusation, "Why is it my fault that he found it funny!?"

"It isn't," Viljam said, earning a surprised look from Yosuke. "I'm the one who laughed so... Anyway, let's just get in the class," Viljam said, not wanting to finish the previous thought.

"He's not wrong. We should go to class now," Yu said helpfully, and with that, the five walked into class.

 **(Yasogami High. September 1st. After school)**

"*Sigh*School's as dull as ever," Yosuke complained. The gang had moved towards the shoe lockers after classes ended.

"You didn't expect things to be different, right," Yu asked rhetorically.

"Good point. Now that the case is over, the days feel a little... empty," The Junes boy commented.

That earned a questioning look from Chie, "Why do you say that? everything's back to normal. That's a good thing."

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just..."

"We've been pursuing this case for so long that you don't know what to do now," Yu guessed.

"...Wow... That's exactly right," Yosuke said, not sure if he should be impressed or scared of Yu's accurate guess.

That made Viljam look thoughtful, "When you put it that way... I guess I can sympathize a little. Although there are... some things I won't miss."

No one needed an elaboration on what the Finnish boy meant. Over these months each of them had varying levels of discomfort from fighting some of the shadows. That's not even counting facing their own shadows.

"...Yeah," Yukiko agreed. Then an idea hit her, "Hey! Why don't we invite Naoto-kun to join us at Junes?"

That earned a mildly surprised look from others. "Why," Yu asked out of curiosity.

"Well... I thought, since he doesn't know anyone here yet, he might feel lonely," Yukiko explained.

Yu looked thoughtful at that, "You might be right. Now that the case is over he probably doesn't have anything to do."

Viljam sighed a little, "And I still need to apologize."

"For what," asked Rise... Wait! Rise!?

Everyone's attention turned to Rise who had been standing next to them for who knows how long.

"Rise-chan! When did you get here," Chie exclaimed in surprise.

"Just now. And I did announce my precense," the auburn haired girl said with annoyance seeping into the latter sentence. But she had more interesting things to discuss, "But what is Nousku-senpai supposed to be apologizing for?"

Viljam sighed at the question, "Yosuke said something that may have offended Naoto-san, and I found it funny."

"Oh," Was the intelligent response from Rise. "Yeah... I guess you two should apologize," Rise added, trying to imagine how awkward it must feel now.

"It was a stupid mistake," Yosuke griped, refusing to be made into a bad guy.

"We know," Yu said reassuringly.

"Well, if you're looking for Naoto-kun, I just passed him at the hallway," Rise informed them, while pointing at the said hallway with her thumb.

Sure enough, Naoto was there talking with two female students.

"I guess now is as good time as any," Viljam said nervously.

"What's with you? Scared," Yosuke asked with a smirk.

That earned an unamused look from Viljam, "I'm not sure an apology is good enough."

"You won't know if you don't try," Yukiko said encouragingly.

This earned a nod from Viljam. And the gang started moving towards Naoto.

"What's with that attitude!? We're just trying to be friendly!" the gang heard one of the female students complain.

"Wow." Came out of Yosuke, "Way to make a first impression."

"What did he say to make them react like that," Yu wondered idly.

Before anyone could answer, Kanji walked towards them from the other end of the hallway. "Yo guys. Wass...up," Kanji trailed off as he caught sight of Naoto.

At the sight of the feared punk, the two female students speedwalked away like their life depended on it. With them, gone the gang was able to approach Naoto.

"So we meet again," Naoto said curtly to the gang, "May I help you?"

As soon as that was said, Viljam stepped forward, taking a huge breath, before speaking, "Hey... about this morning... I'm sorry that I laughed."

That surprised Naoto briefly, but he quickly recomposed himself, "I see. Well, it's quite alright. I'm no longer bothered by it."

The Finnish boy let out a sigh of relief at hearing that, "Thank you. I wasn't sure if apologizing was enough."

Naoto shook his head at hearing that, "The fact that you bothered to apologize is more than enough. Anyway, was that all?"

Chie took that as her cue to speak up. "No we were thinking about inviting you to Junes with us," the green clad girl said cheerfully.

"With... all of you," Naoto asked unsurely.

"Of course," Yu answered for everyone, "If you're not busy right now."

"...Perhaps another time. I promised my grandfather I would go straight home today," Naoto replied curtly.

"Grandpa," Kanji parroted

"Well if you promised then it can't be helped," Viljam said in mild disappointment.

"Maybe next time then," Chie said, still cheery despite also being disappointed.

 **(Junes. September 1st. After school)**

"Why did those girls even yell at Naoto," Viljam wondered.

"Well... When I passed them I heard them asking him to hang out with them," Rise supplied helpfully, "He must've rejected them."

"Wow," Yosuke said in amazement, "Talk about ruining his debut... Is he gonna be alright at Yasogami."

"Well, he'll be alright hopefully," Yu said

"He is different...," Yukiko commented, "... but he has this... mysterious air about him that draws you to him."

"Wow, Amagi... I didn't know you like younger guys," Yosuke teased.

"No... That's not what I meant," Yukiko said, before glancing at Viljam, who had a mischievous smile, "Not a word!"

"I wasn't going to," Viljam said, sounding very amused.

Yu decided to save Yukiko from further embarrassment, "Back to Naoto-kun, he said there were aspects to the case that he wasn't convinced of yet. What do you think he meant?"

"Maybe he just didn't feel satisfied about not finding out the murder method," Chie suggested, "I mean, no one would believe that someone killed people by throwing them in the TV."

"For once you said something smart," Yosuke said, earning a glare from the green clad girl. "But that aside, does it even matter anymore? The case is closed," The Junes boy added.

"I guess you're right," Yu said.

"That means this won't be our secret headquarters anymore," Chie sighed. Now that that was mentioned, everyone else had a melancholy look to them. "uhh... Can we talk about something else," Chie asked, not wanting this train of thought.

Yukiko instantly perked up, "Oh right! The class trip is coming up soon."

Yosuke also perked up at being reminded, "Awesome! So where are we going?"

"Tatsumi Port Island," Yukiko replied.

This earned Yu's attention, "The big city that is on an artificial island?" That statement earned a surprise from everyone.

"Yes... Do you know of it," Yukiko asked getting curious.

"My parents considered enrolling me into a school there three years ago. However, they heard about a mysterious disease that caused people to go catatonic, and decided against it," Yu responded non-chalantly.

"...Is that even possible," Chie asked skeptically, "And how come that isn't talked about?"

"Well, the disease mysteriously disappeared a year after. But I was already in a different school by then," the silverhaired boy explained with a shrug.

That made Rise look thoughtful, "Hmm... Port Island... I've been there for tons of shoots. It was just beyond the Moonlight bridge, right?"

"Sounds like a place with a lot to do in," Viljam said, looking forward to what they would do.

"Actually...," Chie said with difficulty, "... We might not have the time to goof off."

"Why not," Viljam asked the question that most of the others had too.

"I heard the schedule was changed this year," Chie started explaining, "We're visiting a private school there. Like having local and urban students interacting or something."

"Uhhuh," Viljam sounded out, "What else?"

"...We're touring some factories and come back on a third day," Chie finished sounding highly unenthusiastic.

"I think they're missing the point of a school trip," Rise said as she slumped in disappointment. Then the light bulb went off in her head, "How about I show you guys around!"

That earned a raised eyebrow from Yu, "But we're in different years."

That earned a questioning look from Yukiko, "Oh, didn't you hear? The first and second years will be going on this excursion together."

"Something about student enrollment being down and low funds if I remember right," Viljam added in, looking like he was straining his head

"Exactly!" Yukiko exclaimed happily, "So you were listening."

"Somewhat," Viljam said unsurely, before smiling, "Anyway, I'm looking forward to this experience."

Chie raised an eyebrow in question, "Uhhh... You do realize that this whole trip will only be about studying and serious business?" A disgusted sound followed that statement.

"Sure, but this is still different from anything in Finland and that's something." It looks like Viljam refuses to be put down about this trip.

That earned a sigh from Yosuke, "I wish I could find a silver lining, but this is no different from social studies trip."

"Well guess who we get to thank for this," Chie said, earning everyone's undivided attention, "King Moron."

"What?" Came out of Kanji who had been quiet until now.

"Nooooo, King Moron," Yosuke wailed, "Why must you torment us from beyond the grave!?"

"I've wished many times for him to go away," Viljam admitted in shame, "Now I wish I could unwish it." That last one was followed by a cloud of depression.

"Dude, you didn't have a shit to do with King Moron's death," Kanji said dryly.

"Nooo! King Moron!" Came from Teddie, who just arrived. Surprisingly, no one was even remotely surprised.

"You don't even know who that is," Kanji said in annoyance.

"Hey! Hey! Tell me more about this trip," Teddie then said eagerly.

"You just get back to work," Yosuke said, not wanting to put up with Teddie right now.

Unfortunately, Teddie didn't take the hint, "Where's Port Island? What's there?"

However, Chie decided to ignore the questions, "The trip is still ways away. What should I do until then?"

"Not like we got much to do here in the first place," Kanji commented, "Man is just an animal going through his days, trying to figure out how to kill time."

"...Wow, you sounded philosophical. Yet it made absolutely no sense," Chie commented dryly.

"What do you mean," Viljam said, earning everyone's attention, "It made perfect sense."

"To you maybe," Yosuke dead panned, causing Yukiko to laugh.

 **(Amagi Inn. September 1st. Evening)**

Yukiko was in a bit of a turmoil. If she wasn't sure of there being something between Viljam and Chie then she was positive now. As the gang left Junes, Viljam stayed behind to talk to Chie about something. The black haired girl didn't want to know what it was about so she left.

"What is wrong with me," Yukiko asked no one in particular, "I didn't have a problem with this before.". Why did the idea of Viljam and Chie together start bothering her now? " _...I'm not jealous, am I?_ " That thought sent a shiver of fear. Worst part is, she wasn't even sure if she was jealous because of Chie being with Viljam or Viljam being with Chie. Yukiko felt so lost right now.

"What am I going to do," Yukiko lamented. Who could she even ask about this?

 **(Okina city. September 2nd. After school)**

"How the heck did you find this place," Chie asked Viljam. Yesterday, Viljam asked Chie for a date for today and she said , the two were in a barbeque restaurant Viljam had apparently looked up.

"Internet is handy," Viljam responded simply, before smiling, "Plus I had to research on how far this place would be from a station, and if the area it was in was safe."

"You're awesome," Chie said, earning a blush from Viljam.

"...I don't know about that," Viljam said shyly, earning a giggle from the girl sitting in the opposite of the table they had. "Anyway, the comments I found of this place were positive. So I have high expectations," the Finnish said eagerly.

"It better be," Chie said mock sternly, "I mean, you treated me to the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. That's not easy to top."

"I can still try," Viljam countered, and just then their first round of grill meat arrived. "Perfect timing. Want me to grill or do you wanna do it?". Oh yes, the interesting thing about this barbeque place is that you get to barbeque your meats yourself. Something Viljam was looking forward to. Also the meat itself was already cut into thin enough slices that it would only take a few minutes or less for them to be cooked.

"Duh! This isn't my first time in a place like this," Chie said, before using pliers to put the first meat slice of many on the grill. Then she looked at Viljam with slight worry, "Are you sure you can afford this?"

Viljam chuckled at the question before putting his meat on the table grill, "Like I said before, I took a part-time job to get some more spending money. And then I realized I didn't know what to use it on." That sentence was followed by and embarrassed look.

"What kind of part-time job," Chie asked, before looking a little worried, "It isn't anything shady, right?" The only real reason Chie didn't ask about it earlier was because she didn't think anything of it at the time.

Viljam almost looked offended. "I just make envelopes on evenings of my choosing and later send to the address provided," Viljam explained, "About five thousand yen if I reach the quota. Plus some extra, depending on how much over it I go."

"Where did you find out about it," Chie then asked, even as she picked up her cooked meat with chopsticks.

"Yukiko recommended it to me. Said she had done it herself occasionally." Was the simple reply, which surprised Chie.

"Why would Yukiko take a part-time job," The green clad girl wondered in suspicion, "I mean, doesn't she get an allowance or something?"

Viljam just shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't ask."

"And why didn't you," Chie asked, before plucking her just grilled meat in her mouth.

Viljam picked up his own meats, before answering, "Why should I? Maybe she's saving money for something expensive." The Finnish sounded carefree about this whole thing. "Besides, this is Yukiko. I don't think we need to worry about what she needs money for."

"Well, you're right, but still...," Chie said thoughtfully. Until deciding to shrug it off, "Maybe I'm just overthinking it." That theory was followed by small laugh from Viljam. "What?"

"...Would you believe me if I said I'm not sure," Viljam asked, clearly embarrassed.

"...You're weird," Chie said dryly.

"Sorry."

For some reason, Chie couldn't help giggling a little. However, she had more important things to do right now... But, just to be sure, "Hey. How often do you think we could go to a place like this?"

That caught Viljam off guard, "Why do you ask?"

"Because this place is a little pricey. I feel a little bad about you wasting your hard earned money on me," Chie said in remorse.

"This date doesn't put me in the red yet. But fair warning, don't expect me to do this every day," Viljam said, trying to play it off. Then he had a serious expression, "In all seriousness, don't think about it right now. Just focus on the delicious scent of meat. Then once it has cooked, you will pluck it in your mouth and feel the explosion of meaty goodness caressing your taste buds." To emphasize the last part, Viljam plucked one grilled slice in his mouth and let the tasty treat caress his own highly selective taste buds.

Chie did not need further encouragement.

 **(Tatsuhime shrine. Roughly the same time.)**

Yu watched Yukiko sigh deeply. She asked him to hang out, but all they have really been doing was sit here at the steps to the shrine itself.

"Did something happen," Yu finally asked, having enough of this awkward silence.

That made Yukiko flinch a little. "N-no... Nothing's wrong!"

Yu gave the flustered girl a reassuring look, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but if you do, I'm all ears."

That made Yukiko look down for a moment, "...Are Chie and Nousku-kun dating?"

That question surprised Yu a little, more so on how hurt Yukiko sounded. "...I'm not sure... Why do you ask?" Yu didn't like lying about this, but until he was one hundred percent sure Viljam wouldn't go through with his made up threat out of irrational anger, he was not taking chances.

" Because... I'm not sure that I..." Yukiko bit her lip, unable bring herself to finish that sentence.

Even though Yukiko couldn't finish that sentence Yu had an idea... Still..., "Not sure about what?"

"...-ke it."

"What?"

"I'm not sure I like it," Yukiko said in a small voice, but this time Yu caught it.

"You don't like Satonaka-san dating Viljam," Yu guessed.

"I'm a horrible person," Yukiko said, eyes watering a little.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't say that," Yu tried to comfort the distressed girl.

At least it looked like Yukiko wouldn't start crying, but it seems like that could change any second. "I just... I don't understand why I don't like it now," Yukiko griped.

Yu didn't know what to say to that. Honestly, if Yukiko doesn't understand the problem, then what chance does he have. " _Is she afraid of losing her best friend?_ " Was the question that popped into Yu's mind. Well it did make most sense. From some animes or other TV shows Yu has seen, there tends to be a drama like this. Or it could also be that... sibling... jealousy... thing? Or whatever the term is. With that in mind, "Are you afraid that Chie might stop being your friend?" Yu knew the risk, but he still asked.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Yukiko exclaimed firmly.

"Sorry," Yu apologized quickly, "I'm just guessing."

Yukiko accepted the explanation with a huff, but then she went back to mild depression, "I just wish I could stop feeling like this... But it's never that easy."

"No matter how much we would want to," Yu said with a sigh. "Hey... You don't have to listen to me on this one, but why not ask Viljam about this?"

That suggestion was met with an incredulous look from Yukiko, "I can't do that!"

"He has sisters right? Maybe one of them is already dating," Yu hinted, before donning a more serious tone, "I know it's not the same, but maybe you could ask how he would feel about them dating.".

That made Yukiko think. Actually, now that she thought about it, Viljam never mentioned about his sisters' personal lives unless he was asked. Even then, he was rarely specific. Then again, maybe he's afraid of what they might do to him if he babbled about something he shouldn't. "...How would I even do that,," Yukiko asked the intelligent question, "I don't think just asking him is a good idea."

"The only advice I can give to you is to be subtle," Yu said, trying to be helpful, "And by subtle I mean, start talking about something else first. Then slowly lead it up to what you want to ask."

Yukiko felt unsure if it would be that easy, but the plan was as good as any. So she will try it... One of these days. "I think I'll try it one of these days," Yukiko repeated her thoughts aloud.

"Alright," Yu said with a supportive smile, " But try not to rush it." That warning had to be said, otherwise who knows how Yukiko might embarass herself by accident.

"I won't," Yukiko said feeling just a tad bit more confident about this,"Thank you, Narukami-kun." Yukiko was practically radiating happiness.

"Anytime," Yu replied feeling proud of his accomplishment. Even if it was a little premature, considering that Yukiko still has to act on the plan. "Hey, I was planning to grab a bite at Aiya's, would you like to join me," Yu asked, seeing as he had nothing better to do today.

"Oh... Ummm...," Yukiko sounded unsurely with a faint blush, "...I guess?"

Yu frowned a little at the unsure answer, "If you have other plans then that's okay."

"NO!" Yukiko shouted, startling Yu a little. "I mean...! No, I... don't have anything planned for today," Yukiko tried to correct herself.

"...If you say so," Yu replied, getting up from the steps, "Well, shall we go?"

Yukiko got up, and the two moved to Aiya's.

* * *

 **AN: Yup... I'm bringing up the "jealous sibling" trope here. When will this be resolved? Or how? Not saying it now, but I can say that it won't be a major focus.**

 **Although speaking from personal experience, when big sis first started dating... I felt nothing. I just thought "Okay." and continued playing my games.**


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

 **AN:Sorry about two things: 1 for taking so long. 2 for giving such a short chapter.**

 **Several things in life got in my way, spring depression, grandma's 90th birthday, and cousin's fourth wedding celebration. Please don't ask about the last one.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **(Hanamura household. September 4th. Daytime)**

Yosuke called the guys to do play some video games to pass the time. Considering he didn't have a shift today. Something Viljam found odd, but didn't question too much.

Anyway, Yosuke still hadn't let go of his recent victory over Viljam. Something that was getting old as far as the Finnish was concerned. So here they were, taking turns playing a fighting game. Sadly Yosuke already lost a round against Viljam, due to the Finnish boy not repeating the mistake that led to his loss last time.

Now, it was Kanji versus Teddie. Unfortunately, Kanji hadn't played too many games in his life and Teddie had been Yosuke's figurative punching bag long enough for the bear to learn enough to take down newbies like Kanji.

"DAMMIT!" Kanji cursed as his character took the final blow. Teddie still had three quarters of his health left.

"YES!" Teddie cheered. He was out of his costume, because he needed his fingers to play. "I'm the king of games," the blonde boy said happily.

"In your dreams." Yosuke rained on Teddie's parade.

"Agreed," Viljam added in, before smiling evilly, "But the same can be said about Yosuttaja."

"...I'm not even gonna bother," Yosuke said dryly.

"That would be for the best," Yu said, wondering how deep this video game rivalry is going.

"Say... Viljam-senpai. What does Yosuttaya mean," Kanji decided to ask.

"The word itself doesn't mean anything," Viljam said, not feeling like trying to explain it again. He wasn't even sure if Teddie understood it in the end, or if the bear was just trying to be polite...

"It means Yosuke does things only Yosuke does," Teddie said sagely, earning sweat drops from everyone.

"Teddie... That makes NO sense," Yosuke said, feeling a headache coming in.

"That's the closest thing I came in explaining it to him," Viljam said, still feeling embarrassed about it. "You can just brush it off as a Finnish thing," Viljam added, not feeling like starting this again.

"...Sure, whatever you say," Yosuke said, not sure if it was a Finnish thing or Viljam thing. "Anyway, next up are me and partner," the Junes boy then announced, hoping to get on with it.

"Sure," Yu shrugged, though he still wondered if that kind of humor was common or if it's just their resident Finnish.

Now for the game... Yu didn't do very well. The silver haired boy has many talents, some of which even he isn't aware of... Sadly, gaming isn't one of them. But that doesn't mean he was as bad as Kanji. Still... if he doesn't come up with a plan, he will lose.

Then the idea hit him. "Hey, Yosuke. You're not gonna believe what happened to me the other day," Yu said, while focusing on defense.

"Yeah, what," Yosuke said, not losing his focus.

"Rise-chan and Amagi-san kissed me," Yu said with a straight face.

"WHAT!?" Came out of Yosuke, as well as Kanji and Teddie. Viljam on the other hand blinked.

"You dropped your guard!" Yu exclaimed, as he capitalized on Yosuke's fried brain.

Sadly, Yosuke was too flustered to get his head back in the game. Allowing Yu to finish him off.

"And that's one for me," Yu said proudly.

"Y-you...W-when!? H-wow!? W-where!?" Yosuke stammered, unable to even form a coherent thought.

"Never. No how. Nowhere. I lied," Yu said with that infuriating poker face. "Didn't think it was that effective though." the silver haired boy couldn't possibly look more smug. Even if he didn't have a smug expression

Yosuke's face went blank so his brain could reassemble itself and process the words he just heard. "...YOU LYING ASSHOLE!" Yosuke was not happy about being duped like that.

"Not cool, Senpai," Kanji said in disapproval of Yu's actions. Though he did have a blush at the mental image of the situation Yu painted with his words.

"Sensei is evil," Teddie said, more in disappointment than... well, anything.

And Viljam... "*AHHHAHAA* *KIHHIHHIII*." Was rolling on the floor laughing at everyone falling for something that stupid.

"Sorry, but it was the only way to beat you," Yu said, ignoring the laughing Finnish.

"You... I thought we were friends," Yosuke said, sounding almost hurt.

That rang alarm bells in Yu's head, "Yosuke. Again, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have lied like that." And now Yu was regretting his ingenious plan... Maybe saying that about both Rise and Yukiko was too much.

"...You're still an asshole," Yosuke grumbled.

"Not going to argue with that," Yu admitted.

Any further talk was interrupted, by a seal like noise that Viljam calls coughing. The Finnish quickly fished the inhalator out of his pocket... Only to realise that he didn't take it with him today. "*Cough* help *cough*," Viljam managed to say through his coughing.

"What's wrong with him," Kanji wondered in worry.

"This would be the part when he takes a wiff of the inhalator," Yu said, also getting worried. That phrase got both Yu and Yosuke to look alarmed.

"You don't think...," Yosuke let the sentence hang.

Yu looked back at Viljam who was now clutching his chest in pain. "...We need to get him to a doctor," Yu said, quickly, before fishing out his phone. Only for Viljam to grab the wrist that managed to fish the phone out and shake his head.

"...No *cough*, need," Viljam said, his coughing easing up somewhat, but he still looked like one wrong breath would trigger another fit. " Just, get me some water please," Viljam managed to say before he started coughing again.

"I'll get it," Kanji said, and bolted out of Yosuke's room.

"What should I do," Teddie asked in worry.

"Could you fish an inhalator out of your costume," Yu asked, sounding completely serious. Except he wasn't.

"Why would Teddie have one? And in his costume of all things," Yosuke said dryly.

Any retort Yu might've had was interrupted, when Kanji returned with a big glass of water in his hand, "Here, senpai."

Viljam instantly took the glass and downed it with one big gulp. "Thanks," Viljam said, clearly breathing easier. But they could still hear wheezing.

"You okay, Nouskuttaja," Teddie asked in worry, "Please tell me you won't cough your lungs out." That statement earned some disturbing thoughts from the other three guys

Viljam managed a smile at the blonde boy, "Don't worry, I'm fine now. Well, the worst is over, but I still need my inhalator just in case."

"Why didn't you have it with you," Yosuke asked. The Finnish always seemed to have it no matter where or when.

Viljam looked thoughtful, "I know there's a reason I left it behind, but for the life of me I can't remember."

That earned a sweatdrop from the guys. Especially Yu, "Seriously?"

"What was it... AA! It ran out," Viljam exclaimed in realization, "I need to get a new one." After that exclamation, Viljam noticed that Kanji and Yosuke had keeled over, while Yu had a disbelieving look.

"...Ladies and gentlemen, Viljam the mentally challenged," Yosuke couldn't help saying.

"HEY!" That was followed by a few coughs, to which Viljam raised a hand in the universal sign of "Wait." until he was able to calm his breathing.

"By the way, Kanji," Yu said, changing the subject, "Where did you take the water from."

"From the tap of course," Kanji replied as he got back up.

"Is it safe for him to drink tap water," Yu then said.

Yosuke also got up. "Dude why wouldn't it... be... Oh crap!" Yosuke exclaimed remembering where Viljam is from.

"Don't worry, the local tap water has agreed with me," Viljam said, easing their worries, "Plus I've been taking pills for the first few weeks, just in case."

"What pills," Teddie asked out of curiosity, "And why would it be unsafe for Nouskuttaja to drink tap water?"

Yu sighed, before deciding to give Teddie the talk about dangers of drinking tap water abroad. Although, the tap water in Japan is very high quality, something that Viljam had checked long before he applied for the exchange program. He also checked several online discussions about it, and all of them said the same thing, Japanese tap water is safe.

"Say... where did you get the pills for something like that," Kanji then asked out of curiosity.

"Big sis recommended them," Viljam explained, "Said she took them all the time when she had to go to Madagascar."

"I didn't know you had a sister," Teddie said wonder, "What is she like?"

That reminded everyone that no one has talked about Viljam's sisters with Teddie around. "Why do you ask," Viljam asked, not seeing why the blonde was interested.

"I wanna see if I can score with her," Teddie said, earning sweatdrops from everyone except Viljam who frowned.

"First, Maria is back in Finland. And second, she already has a boyfriend," Viljam said firmly.

That was news to everyone. News that piqued Yosuke's interest, "Whoa! Why didn't you tell us before?"

"You never asked," Viljam said, looking confused, "And that's not exactly relevant information."

Yu looked thoughtful for a moment, before he decided to get them back on track, "Well... Anyone up for another round?"

With that, everyone decided to get back into the game, although Yosuke was reminded of how Yu cheated. That needs to be avenged.

 **(Dojima household. September 4th. Evening)**

Few minutes ago, Yu had texted to Yukiko about his finding that, Viljam's big sister was dating. Which was rewarded with a phone call from the Amagi heiress.

" _So he didn't say anything else,_ " Yukiko asked, sounding disappointed.

"No, and I felt that asking more would look suspicious to him, because as he pointed out today, it's not important information," Yu answered, most likely raining on Yukiko's parade, "If you want more info, you'll have to ask him yourself. But you didn't hear this from me." Yu did not want to risk Viljam getting angry about someone spreading his sister's love life around.

" _...Maybe after the school trip?_ " Yukiko did not sound sure at all.

"Alright, but the longer you put it off, the longer you will torture yourself," Yu said with utmost certainty.

" _...How would you know,_ " Yukiko couldn't help but ask.

"...Personal experience," Yu sighed, wondering if he should've said that.

" _...Would you... like to talk about it,_ " Yukiko asked in concern.

Yu sighed at the question. "...Maybe another time. Not like it's important now," the silver haired boy said, hoping that it would be enough for Yukiko not to ask anymore for now.

" _...Okay. But if you ever want to talk about it, I will be more than happy to listen,_ " Yukiko said. And with that, the two bid farewell.

Honestly... Part of Yu felt regret for ever mentioning the personal experience part. Where did it come from? Just from remembering the last time he hoped his parents wouldn't forget his birthday... Again. Though the situation was different, the advice still applies for Yukiko.

So how did Yu stop torturing himself? By accepting that his parents don't care enough to remember the day he was born.

Shaking his head at those thoughts, Yu decided to go to bed.

 **(Inaba. September 7th. Early morning)**

"Can we please forget about this already," Viljam said to end the conversation they were having right now.

Him, Yukiko and Chie had met Yu and Yosuke on their way to school. Seconds before, Kanji ran past them like his butt was on fire. Apparently they met Naoto earlier and he was supposedly the cause for Kanji's hurry. But that's not what Viljam wanted to forget.

"Oh, come on," Yosuke groaned, "You were right about Mitsuo being insane." Yosuke was, of course, talking about recent news that informed people looking through Mitsuo's stuff for more evidence. Or as Kanji put it, trying to prove the guy is a born criminal.

"That doesn't mean he was born that way," Viljam countered, "... I mean, anyone can snap. He must've felt that no one can possibly care about him, so he took drastic measures." It sounds like Viljam was sympathizing with the crook.

"So what? It's okay that he killed people," Yosuke asked incredulously.

"That's not what I'm saying," Viljam exclaimed in frustration, "I'm just saying... Never mind." The Finnish then clammed up.

Yu decided to butt in before this turned into a full blown argument, "Yosuke, I think that's enough. Viljam knows that what Mitsuo did was wrong, but he's questioning if it could've been prevented."

That statement earned wide eyes from Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko. However, none of them were more shocked than Viljam, "...That's... exactly it! I mean, I can't help but wonder if there could've been a way to stop him, before he crossed the line."

"Come on, stop torturing yourself," Chie said with a playful slap at Viljam's back, "There's nothing any of us could've done to prevent it. I mean, he was creepy to begin with."

Viljam hated that Chie was at least partially right, "I know you're right... I just don't like it."

"Why are you even sympathizing with him anyway," Yukiko then asked in worry.

"That's... a good question," Yukiko commented, and gave Viljam an inquisitive look.

"...Can we please drop this subject? I'd rather focus on the school trip," Viljam said, already trying to shift his mind to something less depressing.

"Why? It's not like some factory tour is interesting," Yosuke retorted.

That earned a frown from Viljam, "Chocolate factory was fun."

"What?" Came from everyone.

"What are you talking about," Yu asked.

"My class in ninth grade toured a chocolate factory," Viljam explained with a fond look. "We even got to take as many sweets as we wanted to." The Finnish boy had a dreamy look at that last part.

"I bet Teddie would've loved it more," Yosuke commented dryly. Actually, an image of Teddie carrying a sack of sweets three times his own size came to Yosuke's mind. Worse yet, Viljam carrying a sack four times his own size, "...So... How large of a sack are we talking about?" Yosuke couldn't help feeling the concern for someone eating that amount of sweets.

"Sack?" Viljam asked with a head tilt.

"Never mind," Yosuke said quickly, not wanting to know after all.

"Anyway," Yu butted in, "While King Moron's last request might not be what we had in mind, let's not let it depress us."

"That's right," Chie said happily, with Yukiko nodding in agreement. "I mean, we can still try to make the most of it," the green clad girl added.

"And how exactly are we gonna do that," Yosuke griped.

"Not whining would be a good start," Viljam suggested seriously, earning laughs from Chie and Yukiko. "What?"

"Nothing," Chie said, still giggling a little.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" The Finnish boy was getting annoyed at hearing that when he was confused. Sadly that comment just earned Viljam another round of laughters.

 **(Amagi Inn(Yukiko's room). September 7th. Evening)**

Yukiko and Viljam were doing some final checks on their packs for the trip. But apparently Yukiko had something to ask Viljam, so he came to Yukiko's room.

"Do you have spare clothes," Yukiko asked Viljam.

"Three days worth. In case something happens," Viljam responded. Said "something" ranging from spilt drink to falling in the sea.

"All kinds," Yukiko asked.

"Of course," Viljam confirmed. "How about you? Have you packed everything you need," Viljam asked in turn.

"Yes. I'm prepared," Yukiko said, patting her small bag on the floor for emphasis.

"Including toothbrush? I don't know about you, but I feel very uncomfortable if I don't get to brush my teeth daily," Viljam said.

"Of course," Yukiko said with a smile. Then she had a small frown, "...Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Kysy pois **(Ask away)** ," Viljam said, ready to listen.

Yukiko smiled, having learned what that sentense means. But then she shuffled awkwardly, "...Ummm..."

Viljam raised an eyebrow at Yukiko's awkward behavior, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no! It's just..." Yukiko stammered, before sighing and going to her bookself. She picked up a comic book and opened it for Viljam. "I bought this comic book some time ago from Yomenaido. The shopkeeper said it was in Finnish, but I'm starting to think he lied, because I don't recognize any of the words in it," Yukiko said, sounding ashamed at the last part.

"Näytäs **(Show)** ," Viljam said, and took the comic book to check. After few seconds, Viljam smiled, which was followed by a chuckle. "No wonder you don't understand. This is Turku dialect," Viljam said in amusement.

"Turku... dialect," Yukiko asked with a head tilt.

"A type of Finnish spoken in Turku. One of the big cities of Finland," Viljam explained, before having a mischievous smile, "Oh! Pop quiz: What do Turku and Kioto have in common?"

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything," Yukiko asked in confusion.

"Yukiko, please humor me," Viljam said with a faux pleading tone.

The black haired girl frowned at the sudden change of topic, but decided to go with it, "I don't know." That answer came from the simple fact that she knew nothing about this Turku.

Viljam looked disappointed for a moment before deciding to answer, "Both of them are known as 'the old capital'."

"...Oh."

"Anyway, about this dialect," Viljam said, returning to the matter at hand, "While many of the basic words I taught you are said differently here, and probably in a way that's hard to pronounce for you, you can try and associate them to the ones I've taught based on context."

"Oh... I didn't think of that," Yukiko admitted in shame.

"The only reason I thought of that was because some of the words are close to the ones I'm familiar with. That, and my grandma lives in Turku," Viljam said.

That explained to Yukiko how Viljam knew this dialect. His grandmother must speak it frequently. "So... how do I read this," Yukiko then asked.

"Well... let's see," Viljam said trying to think of a way to teach.

And that is how Viljam and Yukiko spent the rest of the evening. Unbeknownst to Viljam, Yukiko only asked about the comic book because she couldn't gather the nerves for what she really wanted to talk about.

 **(Hanamura Household. September 7th. Roughly the same time)**

"Ted, for the last time: You can't come," Yosuke told the blonde boy that had been begging to be allowed to go with them.

"Why not," Teddie whined, "It's not fair to leave me behind."

Yosuke dragged a hand down his face. "Because you're not a Yasogami student. What part of that doesn't make sense," Yosuke griped. On top of leaving the packing to a last minute, he had to tell Teddie that he can't come.

"This is tyranny! Complete totalibearialism," Teddie complained, while clutching his chest like he was in pain.

Yosuke rolled his eyes at the melodrama, "We don't make the rules, Teddie. So don't whine at me." Then he let out a tired sigh, "If you could pay for your own ticket and lodgings, then it would be a different story."

"Okay," Teddie said happily, causing Yosuke to do a double take.

"What?"

"You said I can come if I can pay," Teddie replied.

"Ted I didn't... You know what, just get into your closet," Yosuke said, not bothering to even question. Teddie meanwhile, clapped his hands happily and did as he was told. "...How the heck would he pay for his own ticket," Yosuke questioned under his breath. As far as he knew, Teddie always blew his paycheck on snacks, so there's no way he could afford a train. Oh well, Yosuke decided to forget it and focus on finishing his packing.

 **(Dojima household. September 7th. Roughly the same time)**

"Well, Nanako. Good night then," Yu wished for Nanako who was going to her room.

"Good night, big bro," Nanako said tiredly, but still smiled brightly. "Good night, dad," the little girl said to Dojima who was sitting on the couch.

"Good night Nanako," Dojima wished for his little sunshine.

However, Nanako didn't move yet. Instead, she shuffled in place. "...Can you... tuck me in," Nanako asked unsurely.

That question earned a chuckle out of the detective. "I think you're old enough not to be tucked in," Dojima said, but he still got up from the couch, "But yes, I can."

"Yay!"

With that, Dojima followed Nanako to her room. All the while Yu watched the exchange with a smile. " _I should go to bed as well,_ " Yu thought and moved to the stairs that led to his room.

Still... What Naoto said about the case was bothering him. Yu thought the nagging feeling would go away over time, but it has only grown stronger... " _Why?_ _Mitsuo confessed his crimes, and yet something doesn't feel right._ " Yu couldn't help thinking.

"I shouldn't think about this," Yu mumbled just as he reached his room, "At least, not for now." With that, Yu went in his room to sleep.

* * *

 **AN: Yup, like I said, short. However, I think the school trip might become so long that I may have to break it into two chapters. But we'll see if I have to resort to that.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter won't take a month to write.**


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

 **An: I was right. I did have to break it into two chapters. But seriously I feel pride at writing a certain part here. Hopefully people will enjoy it.**

* * *

 **(Gekkoukan High. September 8** **th** **. Afternoon)**

This morning, Yasogami high first and second years had gone to Tatsumi Port island and were now at the entrance of Gekkoukan Private High School. The school building dwarfed Yasogami's building easily. That, and the surroundings looked like something you'd find in a fancy park.

"This school looks way too fancy," Yosuke commented in awe.

"Yeah, fancy sounds about right," Yu agreed. To think this could've been the high school Yu would've attended this year if his parents hadn't changed their mind two years ago. "Then again, this place probably has more students than Inaba," Yu added in as an after thought.

Any further comments were blocked out as the principal of the school, an old portly man in a brown suit spoke, " Well, uh, next I will explain about our fine educational institution and the reasons for it's establishment." The principal sounded a little... drony to most students. "I'd like to start with a proverb, 'If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well'."

Chie yawned as the principal of Gekkoukan went on, "Does this principal love his voice or what?"

"He sounds like he's trying too hard," Viljam said, looking less than interested in what was happening.

This exchange earned the two a light smack to their arms from Yukiko, "Chie! Nousku-kun! He'll hear you two."

"I highly doubt it," Yosuke commented dryly, "With the way he drones."

The conversation would've gone on, if the next thing principal said didn't catch their interest. "...Some of our students will walk you through these halls. First though, a representative of our student body will say a few words."

With that a female student in Gekkoukan uniform stepped forward. She had long brown hair, glasses that screamed intellect and was overall pretty. She also held a stack of papers of some kind. "Thank you principal," the student said, before turning to the Yasogami students, "Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. My name is Chihiro Fushimi." The girl, now named Chihiro introduced herself with a bow. "I'm a third year student, and the Student Council President here at Gekkoukan. It's an honor to meet you all."

"Dude." Came out of Yosuke, "That girl's unbelievable."

"Yeah... she's kinda cute," Kanji added in with a blush.

"Stop overreacting you idiots," Chie scolded in annoyance.

However, as this exchange was going on, Chihiro hadn't stopped her explanation, "...So let us enjoy our time together! Thank you very much." Whatever she said, must've been inspiring since some of the Yasogami students clapped.

"...She beat me in every category," Chie said in dismay. Then she glanced at Viljam, who looked like he was staring at nothing. Except when Chie followed his line of sight, she realized that his eyes were on Chihiro. "Nousku-kun," Chie called sweetly.

"Häh? Mitä **(What)** ," Viljam asked as he was brought back to reality.

"What do you think about that girl," the green clad girl asked, still sweetly.

Viljam raised an eyebrow at the question, before glancing at the student council president of Gekkoukan. "Pretty... I guess," Viljam shrugged.

"Uhhuh," Chie sounded out. Viljam didn't know this, but he just dodged a landmine by not sounding the least bit interested. Although Chie was still annoyed.

Suddenly Kashiwagi clapped her hands, "Alright, everyone! Get into groups with your classmates." No sooner had the teacher said that, than all the students went to their own groups

Except Chihiro looked a little panicked for some reason at everyone dispersing. Then the girl approached Yu and the others. "Excuse me, could I bother you for a moment," Chihiro asked, earning the groups attention.

"Sure," Yu responded politely

Chihiro took the small stack of papers in her hands and handed it over to Yu. "This is today's schedule for everyone. Could you hand it out later please? I forgot to do it earlier," the girl explained.

"Sure we can," Yu responded and accepted the stack.

As Yu accepted the stack, Chihiro then had an apologetic look, "Sorry for being so disorganized. And you all came so far..."

Yu smiled reassuringly, "It's fine, you're doing a great job."

"Thank you," Chihiro said, before frowning a little, "But the truth is, I didn't write that speech alone. One of the former Student Council Presidents helped me."

"Oh. Well, they must be an amazing person," Yu commented.

"She is," Chihiro said with a sigh, before she looked startled, "Oh! Sorry for taking more of your time. I should go now and make some arrangements with your Student Council representatives." With that, Chihiro left the gang.

"She was so cute," Yosuke said dreamily earning eye rolls from Chie, Yukiko and Viljam(of all people).

"Don't start anything, Yosuttaja," Viljam warned Yosuke, "Not only do I doubt she would like you, but we'll be going back to Inaba on Sunday."

"Way to ruin my good," Yosuke grumbled, completely downed.

As this happened, Yu and Yukiko were checking the schedule for the day.

"It says that we will be having a special lecture by someone named Edogawa-san," Yukiko said aloud, earning the rest of the gang's attention.

"A lecture!?" Yosuke's cry nearly startled them, "We came all this way to be lectured!?"

"A special lecture," Viljam said, trying to find the silver lining.

"How can that be any better," the Junes boy griped.

"Well, it is about Qabbalah," Yu informed them.

"Kabawhat," Chie questioned.

"You don't know," Kanji piped up," It's a casino." That earned a sweatdrop from others.

"I don't think we would be lectured about casinos," Viljam pointed out.

Yosuke sighed at Kanji's apparent stupidity. "So when's our free period," Yosuke asked, already depressed about the upcoming lecture.

Yu wasn't sure if he should tell Yosuke. Still prolonging this is useless...

"Uhh... We don't get one." Except Chie beat the silver haired boy to it. The green clad girl had also huddled in to see the schedule.

"WHAT!?"

Yu sighed, "According to this, we have classes today. Then we spend tonight and tomorrow at a hotel. But we do have free time all of tomorrow, and the day after until we return."

"This isn't right," Yosuke whined, earning a sigh from Viljam.

"Yosuke, would you please quit whining," the Finnish boy asked with a headshake.

"How are you so calm about this," Yosuke asked in bafflement.

"Simple. I ignore the fact that we don't have free time today, and focus on the fact that we have all of tomorrow to ourselves," Viljam replied easily.

Yukiko smiled at this. "Nousku-kun's right. Let's focus on our studies for now, so we can have fun tomorrow," the red clad girl said consolingly.

"Let's just grin and bear it by thinking of tomorrow," Yu said supportively.

"*sigh* Alright," Yosuke conceded, "Where was the...urgh lecture again?"

"Second floor according to this," Yu responded, feeling a small measure of pride at getting through to Yosuke.

"If it's any consolation, depending on what kind of teacher this Edogawa is, this might actually be interesting," Viljam said in an attempt cheer Yosuke.

"Sure," Yosuke said, completely unconvinced.

"Let's just go," Yu said, "And hand over the rest of the schedules to anyone from Yasogami."

 **(Gekkoukan Classroom. Few minutes later)**

The classroom was pretty different from the one in Yasogami. Not so much with the setup, but this place clearly had some high maintenance. But that didn't bother most students here. What bothered them ever so slightly, was the man that was at the teacher's desk. A lanky black, slightly gray, haired man in what resembled an open white lab coat with a yellow t-shirt underneath. The man also had square glasses that somehow prevented people from seeing his eyes properly. Funnily enough, the man also had a pencil tucked to behind his left ear.

"Welcome. Nice to meet you all. My name is Edogawa, and I'll be keeping you company for this period," The man now named Edogawa said, "You are all from Yasogami High, eh? A high school of many gods." The man looked wistful at the phrasing.

Then the man cleared his throat, I had considered a lecture on Qabbalah philosophy... but I have a better idea*eeheehee*."

For some reason, none of the students were looking forward to it... With the exception of Yukiko and Viljam.

"Since I was able to meet you all today, I shall tell you a story of partings. One could say that this is Japan's oldest tale of curses," Edogawa said.

If anyone had bothered to look they would've seen Viljam perk up at the word "curses".

"I assume you all know about the gods who created this country," Edogawa said, sounding like a question. Several nods were the response. Though some were surprised that one of the nodders was Viljam. "The two gods who gave birth to this country are Izanagi and Izanami," Edogawa began the tale, "They got along very well... But one day, Izanami died while giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the fire god."

As the teacher explained the tale, Yu listened with newfound interest. Of course he had heard this tale before, but now... he had a newfound interest in it and he wasn't sure why... Could it be because of his original Persona Izanagi.

Viljam also found the tale interesting, despite already having red it online. It was a little sad that when Izanagi went to Yomi, the land of the dead, to retrieve Izanami, she had been covered in filth and maggots. So the god ran away in terror, and put a huge boulder to block the entrance so that Izanami couldn't follow. Though that wasn't the saddest part.

"This is the curse known as 'Kotodo'," Edogawa said, referring to the boulder blocking the entrance to Yomi, "Curses beget curses... and Izanami said to the god: 'If you're going to treat me this way, I will kill 1000 humans in your world each day!'. Izanagi regretfully accepted that the bonds between them were severed saying,: 'Then I shall give life to 1500 each day.'"

As Edogawa went on to explain the etymology in the story, Yosuke glanced at Viljam in boredom. It looks like the Finnish still had interest, but it was slowly waning. "Hey," Yosuke whispered, earning Viljam's attention, "Are you seriously interested in this crap?"

The response the Junes boy got was an unamused look. "Mythology interests me, I thought I said that before," Viljam said, trying to sound dismissive.

"Yeah, sure, but-" "Shut it," Viljam whisper yelled, "I'm still trying to listen."

"What are you two whispering about," asked a voice that made the two tense. When the two boys glanced at the owner of the said voice, Viljam wanted nothing more but to rip Yosuke's head from the boy's body.

"I'm sorry Sensei," Viljam quickly apologized to Edogawa, "He wouldn't let me listen."

"Hey!" Yosuke cried out in protest.

Edogawa gave no heed to Yosuke's cries, "...Does Japan's oldest tale not interest you?" The question wasn't sarcastic or even accusing. It was like the teacher was merely curious.

"It's not that," Viljam said calmly, "I do find it interesting. Especially with your way of telling. Though I cannot speak for Yosuke here." That earned some laughs from everyone in the class, including the rest of the gang.

Yosuke could only gape at being thrown under the bus twice over.

"...You're not from this country are you," Edogawa then stated suddenly, earning a surprised look from Viljam.

Though caught off guard by the question, Viljam decided to answer none the less, "No, I'm from Finland."

Edogawa smiled at that, "Finland eh? Then why don't you give us a tale from your National Epos."

That earned a confused look from the class, and a surprised one from Viljam. " Epos? ...You mean Kalevala," Viljam said, wondering why the teacher was asking about that of all things, "I... I don't know if I'm qualified for that."

"If you're not comfortable, then I won't force you. But since this is a cultural exchange, not just between our two schools, but our two countries, it would be nice to hear something," Edogawa said encouragingly.

"Now I'm interested," said a random student, which was followed by a series of curious comments.

"Come on, tell us something interesting," said another student, causing Viljam to look around the classroom. All eyes were on him, and with expectant looks for good measure.

"...Alright, but it's been a while since I've heard this, so I might not be accurate," Viljam caved in as he got off from his seat. Nervousness evident on him. "It's the tale about Sampo. In this tale, there are two people that oppose each other, the Kalevalans and The Pohjolans," Viljam was cut off by his own chuckle, "Sorry, I find it weird trying to say them in a way you could understand."

That earned slight laughs, though whether it was from amusement or mocking was anyone's guess.

"Anyway. One day, two Kalevalans, Väinämöinen, the old wizard, and his younger brother Seppo Ilmarinen, sailed to Pohjola to ask...," Viljam paused, struggling to find the right word, "...Maiden of Pohjola's hand in marriage. To do that, they would have to gain the approval of the Maiden's mother, Louhi, the matriarch of Pohjola."

At the mention of Louhi, the investigation team members that were in the class perked up. They had never asked about who Louhi is in Finnish mythology, so to hear it now gained their full attention.

"However, Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen had to compete for the Maiden's affection. Sadly, the Maiden rejected Väinämöinen, because he was too old," Viljam said, chuckling at the last part, which was shared by the rest of the class," So ilmarinen won that part, except Louhi wanted something from the man, something that would equal her daughter in worth. At this point it's important to note, that Ilmarinen was a smith, a truly skilled one. So he forged Sampo as a gift for Louhi." The further Viljam told the tale, the less nervous he became. "Sampo itself was a large... I guess hand mill is the closest thing I can think of, which had three slots. Each slot spews out something when you turn the handle on top. From the first slot, comes flour. From the second slot, comes salt. And from the third one... gold." Viljam paused for a moment to hear some murmurs from the room. "As you can guess, Louhi was happy about Sampo, so she allowed the marriage," Viljam then said, before donning a serious expression. "However, it was not to last. Because some time later, the Maiden was murdered by Kullervo." That earned gasps. "After that a lot of things happened, but I doubt I have the time to recount all of it, so I will say the most important ones, Ilmarinen tried to ask Louhi for another of her daughters, but the matriarch refused. Feeling cheated, Ilmarinen told Väinämöinen about the carefree life the Pohjolans had because of Sampo. So Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen took a band of Kalevalans and sailed to Pohjola to steal Sampo. Väinämöinen played his kantele, a harp like musical instrument, made of... the jawbone of a giant fish, to make the Pohjolans fall asleep so they could steal Sampo in peace." Viljam took a small break to gauge the reactions around him. Students and even Edogawa were still staring at him in interest... When no questions were asked Viljam continued, "Unfortunately for Kalevalans, a crane's cry woke up the Pohjolans and they of course gave chase. Louhi turned herself into a giant eagle and took as many soldiers on her back as she could to catch up to the Kalevalans. And so the battle for Sampo began. Sadly, Sampo fell into the sea during the battle, so no one got it. This is the tale of Sampo, it's one of, if not _the_ most known tales of Kalevala. Thank you for your time." Viljam finished with a bow. That earned a clap from Edogawa, which was slowly joined by other students. The amount of clapping made Viljam blush in embarrassment, "C-can I... sit down now?"

"Of course," Edogawa said, and Viljam practically slumped back down. "Now then, I hope all of you were able to appreciate this cultural exchange between our schools, as well as countries," the lanky teacher then said. "Now to return to-" the sound of school bell interrupted whatever the teacher was about to say. "Ahh, is our time up already," the teacher said, sounding disappointed, "I suppose I have myself to blame for this little detour."

Yosuke on the other hand was celebrating on the inside at the thought of freedom.

 **(Seaside Clamshell Inn. September 8th. Evening)**

The whole investigation team alongside the rest of the Yasogami was standing in front of the hotel they would be staying at.

"...Doesn't this hotel seem weird," Yosuke said skeptically.

"Is it," Chie asked, "We don't have model hotels like these in Inaba so I can't tell."

"It looks like a love hotel," Yu commented like nothing was wrong.

"DUDE! Don't say that out loud," Yosuke griped while vainly covering Yu's mouth.

"It's fine," Yukiko said, even though she had a faint blush at the thought of staying in a place like _that._ "But the sign does say hotel," the black haired girl pointed out reassuringly, though it was questionable _who_ she was trying to reassure.

At that moment Rise decided to give her input. "Umm... This area is called 'Shirakawa Boulevard' and it's-" "That's okay Rise-chan, I don't think I wanna know," Yosuke interrupted Rise who was blushing a storm.

"Uhhh... guys," Viljam called out unsurely.

"Yes," Yu spoke for everyone.

The Finnish boy shuffled awkwardly, "...What's love hotel?"

Several reactions came out of that: Chie gave a questioning look to Yukiko who shrugged. Rise, Yosuke and Kanji(of all people) gave Viljam a blanched look. Yu who looked impassive on the outside but on the inside..., " _Why did I not see that coming?_ "

"Y-you're joking, right," Yosuke asked the Finnish boy, "That's like... common knowledge!"

The Finnish tilted his head in confusion, "Is it?"

Several palms were heard impacting the foreheads of their owners.

Yu stepped towards Viljam, "Well... it's like this-" "He doesn't need to know," Chie cut in, covering Viljam's ears.

The Finnish boy did not look amused. "Okay, now you got me more curious," Viljam pointed out Chie's blunder. The blunder is Chie accidentally using reverse psychology.

"Y-yeah, wouldn't it be the best," Kanji stammered.

"Guys, Viljam has a smartphone," Yu pointed out with a sigh.

"Yeah, so," Yosuke said questioningly.

Yu sighed heavier, "Which has an internet access."

Yukiko was the first to realize what that meant, "Oh! Nousku-kun could look it up anytime."

"...Nousku-kun, I forbid you from looking it up," Chie told Viljam sternly.

"Why?"

"Because... you don't need to know!" Chie's little outburst earned sweat drops from others.

"uhhh..." Kanji sounded out, earning everyone's attention. "If the dude's gonna figure it out anyway, wouldn't it be better if it happened on our terms?"

Everyone had a look of shock about Kanji's smart idea. "...Wow, Kanji," Rise said in complete astonishment, "That's surprisingly smart."

"What's that supposed to mean," Kanji growled angrily.

"Could someone PLEASE tell me what all the fuzz is about," Viljam shouted in frustration of his inability to understand the situation.

Yu gave Chie a meaningful look. The kung fu loving girl, and Viljam's secret girlfriend, held the gaze for a while before backing off in defeat. With that, Yu was able to grant Viljam a crash course on love hotels.

After the explanation, Viljam had an unreadable expression, "...And we're being housed in a place looking like that?"

"Yes." Yu saw no point in trying to sugarcoat it.

.

.

.

"...Is Kashiwagi blackmailing the principal," Viljam asked seriously.

"WHAT!?" Came out of everyone.

"Wh-where did that come from!?" Rise had no idea what could be going through Viljam's questionable mind.

"Because I'm running out of legitimate reasons of why she gets to keep her job," Viljam replied, still serious.

Yu's eyes widened at the thought, "I wish you were joking, but you might be on to something."

"Hey! You there!" Speak of the devil woman. "Hurry up and come in," Kashiwagi said seductively to the boys, which further hammered in Viljam's previous statement. Also it looked like nearly all students had filed in.

"We'll be right in," Yu responded quickly. Satisfied with the answer, Kashiwagi went inside.

"...Well... I guess there's no use whining," Yosuke sighed.

"Hehhee... Faster than I expected," A mysterious voice cut into their talks.

"Who said that," Chie exclaimed, instantly on guard.

"If they were to meet me... I wonder what kind of look Yosuke would have?" That comment made something click in the said boy's head.

"Oh dear god! Please tell me it's not who I think it is," Yosuke griped.

"Up there!" Yukiko pointed to the roof of a building opposite of the hotel, "*gasp* It can't be!" There was a vague familiar shape on the roof that jumped down... Straight into trashcans.

Then the figure came towards them humming in delight. Revealing to be Teddie in his costume.

"...Teddie, how are you here," Yu asked, completely ignoring the bear's attempt at dramatic entrance.

"The bear within me went stir crazy," Teddie said dramatically.

"That's not what Yu-san asked," Viljam pointed out. While Rise grumbled something about "detecting people in the real world".

"Do you have some special power," Chie asked.

"Meh. I took the train," Teddie answered non-chalantly, earning surprised looks. "I swore off topsicles and saved up money from working at Junes," The bear answered the unasked question of how he could afford it, "As you promised Yosuke, I can be here now since I could pay off my traveling." That earned a questioning look toward Yosuke.

"...I seriously didn't think he could," Yosuke said with a headshake, "Also I included lodging in there."

"...I'm not sure how to feel about this," Viljam commented on Teddie's sudden presence.

"You guys also have free time tomorrow," Teddie said, earning alarmed looks, "No use hiding it! I already know!" The bear couldn't possibly look more smug.

"How the heck do you know that," Kanji asked in surprise.

"I checked Yosuke's trip guide," Teddie replied, earning a glare from the said boy.

"What did I say about touching my things," Yosuke growled at the bear, "And how did you make it here dressed like that?"

"I almost got thrown in the trash a couple times," Teddie said, shuddering at the memory, "But i kept holding onto the promise Chie-chan made to go on a date with me."

"Siis MITÄ **(Say WHAT)**!?" Guess who shouted that.

"D-did I promise that...? Oh, yeah... I think I did promise something like that." Chie looked to be between embarrassed and regretful.

"WHEE! You remembered Chie-chan!" Teddie bounced in place. "Is that alright with Yuki-chan and Rise-chan too," the bear couldn't hold his excitement.

Rise looked uncertain about the whole situation. Yukiko on the other hand, "We can all go together. Is that alright with you, Teddie." the red clad girl either missed or ignored what Teddie implied.

"It's a deal," Teddie cheered, confusing Viljam a little.

The Finnish boy partly expected Teddie to want to get the girls to go with him alone again. Then again... That bear might still pull some nefarious plan to sneak the girls away.

"Viljam, you're scowling," Yu commented idly, having a good guess of what caused it.

"Enpäs **(No I'm not)**!" Viljam snapped.

"You're not fooling anyone," Yosuke said, before having a devious grin, "Are you perhaps...jealous?" The evil smirk on Yosuke couldn't be more mocking.

"Hana umpeen **(Plug the faucet)**!" Viljam started radiating murderous intent.

"Wow... Your Persona really is an evil witch," Yosuke commented, slightly intimidated.

"What?" Rise was confused by the statement alongside Kanji.

"Later," Yu said quickly, before coming between Yosuke and Viljam. "Can we please focus on what to do with Teddie," the silver haired boy said, hoping that the two would stop this stupid fight before it even started.

"...Fine," Viljam grumbled.

Yosuke turned back to their furry friend, "Soooo, Teddie. Did you have a place to stay?"

"Nope, I only got the ticket," Teddie said, happier than he should be in this situation.

"Then where're you gonna sleep," Kanji questioned.

"I am not sleeping outside," Teddie said firmly, "I took the slow train here. The SLOW Train!"

"...What should we do," Rise asked the group.

"Who knows," Viljam shrugged, keeping his real opinion bottled up.

Yu had a hand on his chin in thought. "Perhaps we could-"

"I believe I told you boys to get inside." Kashiwagi came out to usher them inside again. "Or were these inexperienced brats holding you up?" That last one was directed at the girls, who looked _highly_ offended. Then the teacher's eyes fell on Teddie, "Oh! What's this giant teddie bear?"

A light bulb went off in Yu's head, "It's a souvenir I got." That earned mixed opinions out of everyone at the improvised lie. Teddie on the other hand just stood still, probably trying to act the part.

"Ohhhoo. Well, it is cute. Hurry up inside with it," Kashiwagi then said. "By the way, these rooms are amazing. All of them have waterbeds," the teacher added dreamily.

"Ooh! Waterbeds are awesome," said Viljam of all people.

"Aww. Such a good boy," Kashiwagi said with a wink, which made Viljam flinch. "Now hurry along." With that, Kashiwagi returned inside.

As Kashiwagi left, Viljam felt like he was being stared at. The Finnish boy looked around him to see the look of concern on everyone's faces. "What?"

"Why do you know about waterbeds," Kanji asked.

Viljam tilted his head in confusion, "My parents had one. It was so nice to sleep on whenever they weren't home, which wasn't too many times sadly. Seriously, no matter how you slept on it, your back could never be in an unnatural position." At the last sentence Viljam smiled fondly at the memories of slightly sinking into the soft matress with a waterfilling.

That didn't stop everyone from staring, they were mentally questioning how Viljam felt so comfortable sleeping in his parent's bed. It's not that they don't believe Viljam, but for some reason the idea of him occupying what is essentially a bed for two felt weird. Chie decided to break the awkward silence that came from these thoughts, "Anywaayyys... I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

"Yeah," Yosuke agreed, before sighing, "But I'm so exhausted... For so many reasons."

With, that, everyone went inside. Everyone except Yu and Teddie. The bear was doing his best to act like a stuffed animal. " _He may have snuck on this trip, but I guess it's a little touching that he went through all that trouble just to be with us,_ " Yu couldn't help but think fondly. Now then, time to get this bear inside... Though the others could've stayed and helped. Oh well, it could be worse.

"...I gotta pee." And now Yu had to hurry before Teddie had an accident.

* * *

 **An: Yup. This is where this part ends. I actually have the next one pretty far done. Unfortunately, don't expect me to publish it this week, because I will be spending my weekend at cabin. And between entertaining my family, smoke sauna and hot tub, I'm not sure I have the time to finish it.**

 **Still. I managed to keep my promise. It didn't take a whole month to publish this.**


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

 **AN:... Hoo boy. Here it is. Honestly,maybe I tried too hard with this chapter, but I don't care. So many things I've wanted to write for a loooooong time. And now I finally did it!**

* * *

 **(Paulownia Mall. September 9** **th** **. Afternoon)**

The gang was currently in Paulownia mall on a shopping spree. Well, the girls were, the guys were just tagging along since they had nothing better to do.

While the girls were currently browsing the local variety of clothes, Yu was watching in amusement at Yosuke and Kanji keeping a 4 meter distance to Viljam. Why were they doing that? Because this morning, Yosuke questioned why they had 4 people in their room, excluding Teddie, and the rest had three. Viljam had explained that there was an odd number of students, so they had to make one room to take four. The best part is, Viljam was allowed to choose. So of course he chose to room with the guys he was familiar with. But that's not why the two idiots were avoiding Viljam. Oh no! When Yosuke commented on why Viljam couldn't pick another room, the Finnish boy's exact words were: "I don't think I would've been comfortable sleeping with strangers."...You can guess how Yosuke and Kanji took that. Worst part is, Viljam himself is _still_ oblivious to the two's behaviour.

"Seriously, guys. Why are you standing so far from me?" Scratch that last one. "You've been acting weird since we left the hotel," the Finnish said in annoyance.

"Uhh... Nothing's wrong," Yosuke said quickly, too quickly for Viljam's liking.

"A-all's well, man," Kanji said, earning crossed arms from Viljam.

"Do you two really think you're convincing? Or are you just making fun of my intelligence?" No one was able to tell if Viljam asked seriously or if he was being sarcastic.

"It's because of what you said about, sleeping with strangers," Yu said with a straight face, earning looks of shocked betrayal from the other guys.

"What are you talking about," Viljam asked, not understanding the problem.

"NOTHING!" Yosuke cried out in embarrassment, "Partner's just... Talking crazy... Yeah, that's right!"

"Riiight..., and I'm starting to think that you two need to talk to a professional," Viljam said sarcastically.

"We're not crazy," Kanji protested angrily.

"What're you guys talking about," Rise asked, pausing the cloth browsing.

"Oh, Viljam is just tormenting Yosuke and Kanji without realizing it," Yu said with a smug look.

That earned a confused look from Viljam, "How exactly am I tormenting them?"

"By being you," Yu answered cryptically.

"That doesn't make sense," Viljam was not happy about being in the dark.

Yukiko had a thoughtful expression, "Maybe it has something to do with his Persona being an evil witch."

"What?" Rise and Kanji asked in unison.

Yosuke looked like he had reached enlightment, "You know..., that actually explains a lot."

That earned an incredulous look from Viljam, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

However, Rise immediately butted in,"Guys! Could you explain, what you said about Nousku-senpai's Persona?"

Chie perked up at this. "Oh, right! You and Kanji weren't in that class. The teacher in our class told Nousku-kun to tell us about Karebara, in which Louhi is an evil witch queen."

"It's Kalevala," Viljam automatically corrected, "And 'queen' is not the word I would use."

"Why, not?" Teddie of all people asked.

Because when I think of a queen, I think of a fat woman in overly fancy dress sitting on an overly fancy throne. When I think of Louhi, I think of a wicked witch who sits on a chair made of the skulls of animals and maybe bones of her ene-Viljam cut himself off at the looks he was getting. "Ahhem... Sorry, it's just... 'queen' just... doesn't sound right," Viljam said, a little embarrassed at his ramble.

What the Finnish boy didn't realize was that he was getting looks from his oddly specific description. "Wow,".Was all Yosuke could say.

"Yeah..." Rise sounded out, "Definitely an evil witch." And she wasn't talking about Louhi.

"Sure seems like it," Yu said, unable to resist giving a jab at Viljam.

"...I'll just pretend I'm not hearing this,"Viljam said, giving up on trying to understand what everyone's problem is.

"Sure," Yu said, finding a lot of amusement in this situation. "By the way, did you girls find anything interesting?"

With that, the shopping spree continued.

 **(Club Escapade. September 9** **th** **. Evening)**

The girls did find a few things during their shopping. However, when the gang took a small break, Chie and Viljam disappeared for a time. Rise had mentioned an arcade nearby earlier, so Chie took Viljam there. When the gang eventually found the two in the arcade, a scolding about ditching them ensued... If you want to call Yosuke and Rise teasing the two scolding. And Viljam subtly reminded Rise about the threat hanging above her and Yu.

Anyway, Rise had suggested one more place they would visit this evening. Club Escapade. Most of the gang was enthusiastic about it.

So here they were, inside the club.

"Wohhoo!" Chie cheered, "I'm totally ready for this." Then she winced as she made a movement her back didn't agree with. While the statement about waterbeds being comfortable in any position is true, that doesn't mean your neck and back won't become sore if your head hangs outside the said bed. Still, Chie had persevered all day, trying not to let such a minor nuisance ruin her day. As difficult as it was.

"There's nothing like this back home,"Yukiko said in wonder.

"So this is a club," Kanji said in equal wonder.

"I don't feel comfortable here,"said the nervous Viljam.

"Relax, nothing bad is gonna happen,"Yu said... and felt like slapping himself for the jinx.

"Is it permitted for high schoolers like yourselves to be here,"asked Naoto from the side, surprising everyone.

Yu smiled at the inquiry, "We could ask you the same question."

Naoto smiled in amusement, before donning a serious expression. "The clientele seems above-board, so I don't expect there to be any problems," the detective prince informed the gang, before turning to the front doors to leave.

"Leaving already,"Yu asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, I have no reason to be here any longer," Naoto explained curtly.

"Why don't you join us,"Yukiko asked Naoto, earning a surprised look from the first year.

"Are you... asking me to stay," the said boy in blue cap asked.

"Yes. We didn't get to chat last time,"Yukiko said eagerly.

Naoto looked a little guilty at that, "It's just... I had other matters that day."

"But you're free now, right,"Rise inquired, "I was so eager to find out how someone my age is working as a detective."

"Now that Rise-san mentioned it, I'm curios too," Viljam added in, still nervous about being in a club.

"...Well... If you insist," Naoto said with a blush.

Which was noticed by Yosuke. "What's up? You look a little red," the Junes boy asked cheekily.

"Th-that's not true," Naoto stammered.

Rise smiled at Naoto's embarrasment before addressing the rest of the gang," Alright! You guys wait here while I go reserve the area upstairs for us."

"Okay," Yosuke said, before Rise's words fully registered, "Wait, what!? Reserve!?"

"Wouldn't that cost something," Yu asked unsurely. The silverhaired boy was pretty sure if it did, the price would be far out of Rise's range.

"Don't worry Senpai, I think I can pull some strings," Rise said confidently.

Before anyone could inquire how, Rise already strutted away to do just that.

"How is she gonna pull that off," Chie asked, a little baffled at the idea of having a place reserved.

"She was Risette," Viljam shrugged, "Maybe the owner of the place owes her."

"What do you mean _was_ Risette," Yosuke asked, catching onto what Viljam said.

The said boy flinched, forgetting that that little tidbit wasn't common knowledge yet.

Thankfully, Yu came to the rescue. "What's wrong, Kanji?"

The said punk had his back to others, and looked to be staring at the floor. "N-nothing's wrong," Kanji stammered.

"You got a stomach ache or something," Yosuke chimed in, already forgetting what Viljam blurted out.

At that, Kanji finally faced them again. "That ain't it!"

And that exclamation made Yukiko and Viljam laugh.

 **(Few minutes later)**

As promised, Rise was able to reserve the whole second floor for the gang, including Naoto.

"How were you able to reserve the whole floor. Isn't that expensive," Chie asked in concern.

"Oh, no worries," Rise said dismissively. "Two years ago I was supposed to have a secret show here, but the power went out in the middle of it, and the gig was cancelled," the former idol explained,"They still owe me, so they're willing to put this on the house. Including the drinks." The last one was added with a mischievous smile.

"Oh, in that case, I'm gonna order more," Chie said happily.

"These drinks are pretty good," Viljam said, before laughing at nothing.

"What's with you," Kanji asked the resident Finnish.

"Villy's having fun. WHEEE!" Teddie cheered, throwing his hands in the air for good measure.

"Ted..." And now the blonde boy felt like whimpering. "What did I say about calling me Villi?" Viljam had a tranquil look, but you would have to be very stupid not to hear the underlying tone of "Say something wrong and I'll skin you alive.".

For some reason, Yukiko laughed at this exchange.

"She's looser than usual too," Kanji commented on Yukiko who seemed to giggle every five seconds.

Then Yosuke realized something, Yukiko's face was flushed, and her behavior was a little erratic, meaning... "Guys... These drinks aren't alcoholic, right?"

"No way," Yu said, sitting cross legged, while having an odd look on his face.

"Impossible," Viljam added in.

"I told them to give us soft drinks," Rise piped up in what looked like drunken annoyance, "...Really I did."

Chie looked worried at Rise's unsure statement, "Is that why it's so hot...?" That question was followed by Chie fanning herself.

"It's just the room," Viljam said reassuringly, "Hot air goes up after all.". Then he took a more serious expression, "But seriously, these drinks can't be alcoholic."

"How would you know," Kanji asked, slightly suspicious. Although he had to agree that they didn't smell like alcohol.

Before Viljam could answer, Rise stood up from the couch. "KING'S GAME!"

"What game," Viljam asked, slightly startled by Rise's shout.

"King's game," Rise repeated, "At this time, adults play King's Game. It's the law *hic*!"

Viljam hummed skeptically.

"That's not a real law," Naoto finally commented after being quiet for so long.

"Well I'm gonna play Kings Game now and ain't no one gonna stop me," Rise slurred.

"Does Rise-chan even know what she's saying," Yosuke asked with a sweatdrop.

"Sure she does," Yu said like nothing was wrong.

"Kanji! Get the chopsticks," Rise hollered while pointing at the punk in question.

"Wha-!? Why me!?"

Rise did not tolerate insubordination, "The King's word is law! Chop chop!" the drunken girl clapped her hands for emphasis.

"It's started already," Yosuke questioned, as Kanji got up with a grumble.

As this happened, Viljam lightly nudged Chie to earn her attention, "Should I be worried about this?"

"...I... honestly don't know," Chie admitted, with a headshake. The action made her wince as her neck didn't like the movement.

"You need to get that massaged," The Finnish boy commented.

"But I don't know a masseuse," Chie complained.

Viljam opened his mouth to say something, but Kanji had already returned.

"Alright!" Rise cheered alongside Yukiko and Teddie.

With that, Rise did some fiddling with the chopsticks before presenting them. "Everyone, draw!"

And the gang did as they were told, some more eagerly than the others. Namely all the intoxicated ones were eager, while the sober ones were a little unsure.

"...So, how does this game work," Chie asked, as she held her chopstick.

Yukiko perked up at the question. "Okay... One stick is marked for a king, and the rest have numbers on them. The king orders one number to do something, but here's the fun: The numbers are only revealed after the order is given," Yukiko explained.

Chie had a baffled look, "Yukiko... Where did you learn this stuff?"

"You tell 'em Senpai!" Rise cheered as Chie gave Viljam a questioning look.

"...Don't look at me, I didn't know this game existed," the Finnish boy said defensively.

Any further conversation was interrupted by Rise, "Soooo... Who's the King now?"

Teddie stood up, "Teddie's is red! Red! Is Teddie the King!?" the boy showed the chopstick that was marked red.

"Oh crap," Yosuke griped, having a very bad feeling about this, "We're already doomed."

Yu smiled without care in the world, "Come on Yosuke, what's the worst Teddie could do?"

"I, the King, command thee to smooch the King without delay!" And Yu instantly regretted saying what he did.

"Menitkin sanomaan **(You went and said it)**!" Yu didn't need a translation to know what that meant.

"S-sm-smooch!?" Chie cried in horror.

"Oh shit!" Kanji and Yosuke exclaimed in unison. Even Naoto looked highly uncomfortable at the idea.

"Please, god. Grant me a girl... Number 3!"

"Gyaak!" Now it was Kanji who cried in horror.

It took about three seconds for Teddie to figure out why, "I mean number 2!"

"No take-backs," Yosuke said with a relieved smirk.

"Smooch! Smooch!" Yukiko cheered, earning weirded out looks from Chie and Viljam.

Teddie turned towards Kanji. "K-Kanji... So you were after my fuzzy fur," Teddie said dramatically, causing the punk to lose all color. "Okay, but it's my first time. So please be gentle." And then the smaller blonde pounced.

"AAAGGH! NO! GET OFF! DON'T MAKE ME FLATTEN YA! AAAGH HELP!"

Yu looked like he was mourning for someone who was dying. Yosuke averted his gaze from the horrible sight. Chie did the same. Viljam covered his eyes with one hand. Naoto... He lowered his cap enough to cover the scene from his field of vision.

"Kanji parka **(poor Kanji)** ," Viljam muttered to no one in particular. No one needed a translation for those words to get the idea.

Rise and Yukiko were of course still not in their right minds. "Wow! Only the first round and two players are out," Rise said happily.

"Huh? Is it that kind of game," Chie asked in confusion. A confusion shared by Viljam, but the Finnish didn't feel like questioning right now.

Without further ado, round two began. "Everyone draw!" Rise cheered again. And so they did.

"So, who's the king," Yukiko asked in excitement.

"I-I am," Chie said nervously, before she realized something, "Oh, right. I can just order something normal." The relief was clear in Chie.

"No, No, Chie," Yukiko scolded drunkenly, "The next order has to be more extreme."

"What?"

Rise perked up again, "Ooh! How about someone sitting on her lap!"

"What!?"

"Oh, or what if they had to hug her," Yukiko added in.

"WHAT!?" Chie did not like any of these suggestions.

Yosuke had an evil smirk, "You could always pick smooching again and hope you land Viljam." Chie went beet red at that remark, though whether it was out of anger or embarrassment was debatable.

"Yosuttaja pitää hanansa kiinni **(Yosuttaja keeps his faucet shut)** ," Viljam said in a warning tone.

The said Yosuttaja's smirk didn't falter, "No I won't." Yosuke had picked out the word hana, from Viljam's sentence so it was safe to assume what the Finnish boy said.

"Yosuke has a point," Yu piped up non-chalantly, earning a betrayed look from Chie and Viljam.

"Lap! Lap! Lap!" Rise chanted.

"Hug! Hug! Hug!" Yukiko joined in.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Yosuke chanted, but he burst into laughter after the third chant.

Chie stared at her marked chopstick, trying to think of anything, but the loud chant and the peer pressure were taking their toll. Until... "NUMBER 4 GIVE ME A BACK MASSAGE!"

That earned cheers and clapping from Yukiko and Rise.

"Woohoo! Nice pick," Yosuke said, but he was almost disappointed that he didn't have that number.

"So, who's the lucky one," Yu asked, having confirmed that he wasn't number 4.

"Tässä näin **(Right here)** ," said Viljam, who held up his chopstick.

Chie wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or terrified. Relieved because it was Viljam. Terrified because... it was Viljam. "I...uhhh."

"So, would you like to sit or lay down," Viljam asked normally.

Except, with Chie's current line of thinking, she didn't realize what he was asking. "N-no! I... I'm not ready!"

"Huh? It's just a massage," Viljam said, confused on what Chie was talking about.

"Oh!? Right... Massage," Chie said, while chuckling nervously.

"What did you think he meant?" Came the devilish inquiry from Yosuke.

"SHUT THE FAUCET HANAMURA!" Chie got up, ready to jump kick Yosuke, but her upper back cried in protest of the sudden movement. "Ow... Okay, maybe I'll just sit," Chie said, referring to Viljam's previous question.

"Okay, now turn that way," Viljam said, pointing to Yukiko who looked on in anticipation. Chie did as he said and turned her entire body to face her best friend. Then the Finnish boy got in position behind the girl. "Okay, if I go too hard, fast, or the opposite of the two, tell me. Also, if you want me to move, just say so," Viljam instructed as he put his hands on Chie's shoulders, making the girl tense for a moment.

"O-okay, you can s-start now," Chie stammered, and Viljam did as commanded. "Ow! Slower! Unghh! Harder! Go left... Now right..." As Chie instructed Viljam, her tone changed from pained to uncomfortable, to... unclear.

As this happened, Yosuke's smirk faltered every second. It looked like their violent Kung Fu girl was slowly melting under Viljam's thumbs pressing into her back, as well as the rest of his fingers pressing slightly beneath her shoulders. "Dude! You know how to massage?" was the question that came out of incredulous Yosuke.

"This isn't the first time," Viljam admitted, even as he was focusing on his work.

"Oh! Right there..." Came out of Chie, when Viljam found a particularly sore spot. The Finnish switched to using his knuckles to grind the area.

"Vou **(Whoa)**." Viljam sounded out after hearing something crick from Chie's.

"How often have you massaged," Yu asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know," Viljam replied, as he moved around kneading and grinding Chie's muscles. "My mom and sisters occasionally ask me to massage. Supposedly I have perfect hands for it, whatever that means," the Finnish explained.

"When did you first start massaging," Naoto then asked, although he blushed a little when he heard a light moan from Chie.

Viljam opened his mouth to answer, before looking thoughtful, "I don't remember." Then Viljam decided to move onto Chie's neck. So he grasped the back of Chie's neck with one hand, before pressing on the small muscles that snaked around the spine that made up the neck. He even rubbed the base of Chie's skull for a moment. "Feel any better yet," Viljam asked Chie.

"...Don't stop," Chie said in what seemed like a dreamy haze. Viljam wasn't sure if the girl meant the neck or the massage itself, so he used his other hand to continue treating the girl's back. "Hurts...so...good," Chie sounded out in bliss, causing Viljam to lightly shake his head. Not the first time he heard something like that.

"Dude!" Yosuke sounded out, now looking jealous, "You could make a fortune with those skills.

"Huh?"

"Have you considered a career as a professional masseuse," Yu asked Viljam.

"No thanks," Viljam said dismissively, then he turned towards Chie, "Chie-san, can I stop now? My hands are getting tired." Chie did nothing but lean into Viljam's hands that were still working her muscles. "Chie-san," Viljam called out again, stopping his work. No reaction. "CHIE-SAN!"

"WHuH!?" Chie finally snapped out of it and turned her head to look at Viljam, "What?"

"I asked, can I stop now? My hands are getting tired," Viljam repeated his question while moving his fingers in an attempt to get the blood flowing in them.

"Oh... Yeah... I feel better now," Chie said, turning the rest of her body experimentally. "Hey! My back isn't aching anymore," the girl exclaimed, before turning her head every which way. "And my neck's fine too. You're amazing," Chie exclaimed, before suddenly hugging Viljam.

The Finnish boy tensed at the sudden show of affection, as well as blush from the compliment, "I-I'm not t-that amazing."

"Apparently, you are," Yosuke said evilly.

And just like that, Chie remembered where they were and with who. "Wh- I... I just... SHUT UP!"

And Yosuke couldn't stop laughing at the flustered girl

"Would you stop bullying her already," Viljam said, getting tired of Yosuke's antics.

Yosuke opened his mouth to retort... "Yosuke." Only to be interrupted by Yu. "For the sake of your safety, I suggest you stop," The silver haired boy warned his partner. After all, Chie started looking like a bloodthirsty tomato. Emphasis on bloodthirsty. So Yosuke did the smart thing and stopped.

"Round three!" Yukiko called out.

"Yeah!" Rise joined in.

With that the gang reset the whole thing. For some reason, Viljam and Chie weren't dropped out. All inquiries as to why were ignored by the drunken ones. However, to make things easier the sober ones stopped questioning and went with it. Even if they felt like questioning.

"So, who's the King," Rise asked drunkenly.

"I am," Yu said almost triumphantly.

For an instant Chie looked apprehensive, then she remembered who they were dealing with, "At least it's not Hanamura."

"That's fine," Yosuke said, surprising Chie a little, "We all know who you prefer." And the girl felt like strangling the guy again.

"Oooh! How about this time, someone rests their head on the King's lap." And here we go again.

"Oh, oh! Or what about a piggyback ride?"

"I'm starting to wish these drinks were alcoholic," Viljam said, downing his drink.

"What do you mean 'starting to'," Yosuke retorted, having similar apprehension. Even though he was hoping against hope that whatever Yu planned was not embarrassing... or at the very least, not be the victim.

"Number 1, you may rest your head on my lap," Yu said almost sounding bored.

"YAY!" And it was Rise who had to do that. Although to Viljam's and Chie's knowledge, the auburn haired girl being a victim here was... questionable. Anyway, Rise got off her seat and unsteadily walked to sit down next to Yu, before resting her head on his lap. The said lap now being uncrossed. "Mmm...So happyyy," Rise drawled out, sounding like she could fall asleep right there.

"Dude," Yosuke piped up, "You have no idea how much I'd want to trade places."

And then, Rise snuggled against the lap, which Viljam and Chie witnessed.

"...I have no idea what to think of that," Viljam said, glancing between Rise, and still somehow passive Yu. Seriously, if he was in Yu's position, he wouldn't know how he would react... And now the image of him and Chie in that position popped into his head. Forcing him to shake his head to rid that image.

Chie just looked embarrassed, but not for herself.

"Rise-chan, that's not fair! I wanted to hug him," Yukiko whined, earning looks of alarm from everyone. And then to everyone's shock, the black haired girl latched herself on Yu's neck. "Like this!" Yukiko emphasized these words by nuzzling her head agains't the silver haired boy's neck.

"Et oo tosissas **(You're not serious)** ,Viljam said in expasperation, not sure if he should be shocked about Yu being cuddled by two girls, or about the fact that the guy doesn't even bat an eye at the action.

"DUDE! You can't hog two of them at once," Yosuke yelled in jealous anger.

"...B-but I'm the King," Yu said weakly.

"Riight," Chie said, feeling embarrassed about Yukiko's current behavior.

"...Should we... separate them," asked incredibly flustered Naoto who probably regretted the life decisions that led him to this moment.

"...I'm not sure how well that's going to end," Viljam said, earning a curious look from Naoto.

"And why is that?"

"Because they might not respond to us, or if we try to force them off, they might throw a tantrum," The Finnish explained.

While Chie and Yosuke saw Viljam's point, they still tried separating the two. Surprisingly, the two came off relatively easily. Rise seemed to half sleepwalk, if that was even possible, while Yukiko... She just latched onto Chie instead, earning lots of laughs from Viljam and Yosuke in the process.

Anyway, the moment Naoto voiced a question of if the game ended, Rise seemed to wake up and started another round. Not only that, but Kanji and Teddie finally joined them again. Teddie, being his hyperactive self, while Kanji... looked like he had gone through hell.

"So, who's the King now," Viljam asked for a change after everyone picked their sticks. Kanji more grudgingly than others.

"I'm the King," Yukiko shouted in glee, "Or actually, Queen!"

"Should we be worried," Viljam whispered to Chie.

"...Normally I'd say no. But right now, I have no idea," Chie replied, slightly worried about what Yukiko would come up with in her current state.

"Someone has to reveal something embarrassing from their life," Yukiko slurred, before pointing at one particular person, "Naoto-kun, that's you!"

"You can't do it like that," Yosuke said in alarm at the blatant ignoring of the one rule that made sense so far.

"The Queen's order is law!" Rise did not agree with Yosuke.

"It's quite alright," Naoto said, surprisingly calm, "Although, I don't have anything embarrassing to tell you. I might still tell something about myself." Yu wasn't sure why, but it felt like there would be strings attached. "That is, if you answer one question from me honestly." There it is.

"Okay," Rise said chipperly.

"RISE-CHAN/SAN!" two male and one female voice cried out.

"It's fine," Yu said, earning slacked jaws from Chie and Yosuke. Viljam just had a look that screamed "Are you insane!?". Kanji... wasn't sure how he's supposed to react.

Anyway, Naoto took Yu's answer as his que to start talking, "The Shirogane family has been detectives for generations. We lend our talents to the police from time to time."

"For generations," Chie questioned in awe, "Wow! That's like from the movie I watched."

"During my grandfather's times crime scene investigators didn't exist yet, so a private detective was consulted. Grandfather still has connections to the police from those times, which he has used to support me, despite my inexperience," Naoto kept explaining, "But these days, crime scene investigators are well versed in science and medicine, so I must further my studies."

"I don't think I could handle that kind of pressure," Viljam said in sympathy.

Yosuke on the other hand had other things concernign him, "That's it? No punchline?"

"Like I said, I have nothing to be embarrassed about," Naoto said curtly.

Viljam frowned at this, "You're lying." That comment earned exclamation marks from others, while Naoto had double marks. "Everyone has something they're embarrassed about. There's no way you're an exception... I think that there is something you may not only be embarrassed about, but also ashamed." That comment earned an alarmed look from Naoto, which made Viljam grin like a shark, "Maybe it's something that could possibly destroy your image... A habit..., or maybe even something more...physical." At the word physical, Naoto lost all color from his face.

Thankfully, Naoto was rescued by Chie smacking Viljam upside the head. "Stop teasing him," The girl said sternly.

Nursing the back of his head, Viljam turned to give Chie a piece of his mind, "...Shutting up now." Only to back off from the girl's intensified look.

"A-anyway," Naoto said, fixing his features back to neutral with some effort, " I believe it's your turn."

"Ask away," Yu said, bracing himself for whatever Naoto was about to say.

"What is your true involvement with the murder case?" And now the gang was nervous.

"And the mood is officially killed," Yosuke quipped.

"Weelll, we go rescue people by jumping into the TV," Yukiko piped up drunkenly, earning alarmed looks from the sane members of the gang. "Aand theen, we shout 'PERSONA!' and beat the crap outta shadows-" "Yukiko! Pää kiinni **(Shut your head)** ," Viljam hissed in panic, interrupting Yukiko.

"P-paa on kiinni kehossa **(Head is attached to my body)** ," Yukiko retorted with a giggle.

Viljam's palm impacted his face, "Miksi opetin tuon **(Why did I teach that)**?" All the while others were half way of panicking at Yukiko's blunder and confused at the exchange

"Are you making fun of me," Naoto sighed in tired annoyance.

Rise stood up suddenly, "Ish true! PERSONA!" And Rise struck a pose... and she slumped back into her seat in blissful sleep.

"Urgh... someone put these two drunks to bed already," Chie grumbled, getting tired of their drunken friends' antics.

Naoto also looked unamused, "I see you had no intention of telling the truth... But I'm curious, how did you become so inabriated? These drinks aren't alcoholic."

"Good one Naoto," Yukiko cheered, thinking it was a joke.

"I knew it! I knew these drinks can't be alcoholic," Viljam exclaimed, proud of being right.

Yu had a curious look, "How could you have known that?"

"Because alcohol doesn't taste good," Viljam said casually, ringing alarm bells in everyone's heads.

Yosuke had a concerned look, "Okay... how would you know that?"

Viljam opened his mouth to answer. "Nousku-kun's been drinking since he was seven years old," Yukiko butted in.

"WHAT!?"

"YUKIKO! THAT'S NOT HOW IT WENT!"

"How the hell do you get to drink alcohol," Kanji asked in alarm.

"I don't! I-" "What kind of parents let their children get drunk!?" That was Chie, who interrupted Viljam.

Viljam opened his mouth to retort, but now it was Yosuke who got in the way, "I knew there had to be something more wrong with your head than what you told us!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP, BEFORE I SLIT YOUR THROATS!"

That made everyone clam up in horror. Never had Viljam threatened to kill everyone like that. Naoto put his hand into his pocket to subtly grasp something in there.

Yu quickly glanced out towards the stairs they took to get to this floor. No one else was on this floor, and it seemed like the loud music, that had been on since they got here, stopped Viljam's roar from reaching the rest of the club. Judging by the lack of panicked activity anyway.

"Thank you," Viljam said, taking a deep breath, "Now, I accidentally tasted wine ONE time. That's it!" The Finnish boy lifted one finger to emphasize his point.

"...Okaaay," Yosuke said, not sure if he believed that.

"How, did that happen," Yu asked, less fearful and more curious.

"*sigh* The wine was in a soda bottle and I was seven," Viljam explained, shivering at the memory, "It tasted horrible."

Chie, who had inched away from Viljam, dared to ask the next question, "Why was there wine in a soda bottle?"

"I don't know, maybe dad didn't have a wine bottle to put it in," Viljam sighed.

"...That doesn't make sense," Yosuke said, not sure what nonsense Viljam was spouting.

"Look, the point is, I accidentally tasted wine, found it disgusting, and I swore to myself that I would never, ever, EVER! Drink alcohol," Viljam said, getting increasingly uncomfortable.

That seemed to satisfy everyone, although Chie, Yosuke and Kanji had some lingering doubts and fears.

Until Naoto decided to break this uncomfortable silence,"...Anyway, I confirmed it myself when I entered. This place hasn't served alcohol since a rash of drunk driving last year." During this explanation, Naoto's hand never left the pocket.

"Huh," Chie exclaimed, "Does that mean, they got drunk off the atmosphere?"

"Whooo carees," Yukiko drawled more than for the past few hours, "...Good night." And the girl fell asleep right then and there.

"I think, that's enough partying," Yu said, glancing between Yukiko and Rise.

"...Definitely," Viljam said in a small voice.

"How're we gonna get back with two passed out drunks," Kanji asked.

"Teddie's still okay," Teddie said, not as intoxicated as the two girls, but still, "Let's all drink until morning!"

"Like I said, you haven't been consuming alcohol," Naoto said, finally taking his hand out of his pocket.

"Bring it on...," Rise said in her sleep.

"...Are you an army of idiots," Naoto said to no one in particular.

"...I'll get Yukiko," Chie said with a sigh, before getting up to wrap Yukiko's left arm around her neck to support her best friend. Then, with some difficulty, was able to get Yukiko off the couch.

"I'll get Rise-chan," Yu said, getting up from his seat.

"Why do you get to do that," Yosuke asked in annoyance.

"Because, you need to help Kanji to keep Teddie on a leash," Yu replied as he reached the passed out former idol. "Rise-chan, we need to go now," Yu said, hoping Rise wasn't all the way passed out.

"...Okayyyyy... Carry me." Rise's words were emphasized when she lifted her hands like she was ready to hug something.

Yu rolled his eyes, before scooping Rise in a bridal carry, with the girl wrapping her arms around the silver haired boy's neck.

"Chie-san, are you sure you don't need help," Viljam asked, seeing that the green clad girl was struggling with Yukiko. Not because of the weight, but because the black haired girl had become lucid enough to try and cuddle Chie.

"Urghhh... fine, but only because it's you," Chie said as she tried to stop Yukiko from climbing on her.

 **(Clamshell Inn. September 9th. Few minutes later)**

Luckily for the gang, the streets were empty enough that there wouldn't be anyone to ask questions. Yosuke had looked on in jealousy as Yu carried Rise like she was his bride. All the while, the said girl snuggled against her comfortable ride. Sadly the Junes boy was busy supporting Teddie with Kanji, and to keep the blonde bear/boy from wandering off. Yukiko kept saying how much she loved Chie and Viljam. To the Finnish boy's credit, all he replied was, "Yes Yukiko. I know." While petting the girl's head.

Now however, Yosuke and Kanji were smuggling Teddie into their room, while Yu and Viljam helped the two drunks into their room. Chie would've taken Yukiko inside their room on her own, but the black haired girl wouldn't have it. She clung tighter onto Viljam's neck.

So here they were, in the girls' room.

"Okay, Yukiko. Just sit down now," Viljam said as he and Chie lowered Yukiko into a sitting position on the bed.

"Why does Yukiko have to be an affectionate drunk," Chie grumbled to no one in particular.

"Better than angry drunk," Viljam replied, readying himself to get up the moment Yukiko collapses backwards on the bed. "ÄK!" Except the girl pulled Viljam down with her by the back of his collar.

"Nousku-kuuun, sleep with me tonight," Yukiko drawled as she locked her guest brother in a hug.

"Mitä **(What)**!? Ei **(No)** ," Viljam said as he began to struggle.

"Oh no, he's not," Chie unknowingly agreed with Viljam as she began to pry Yukiko off. Except she had to look up from her work when she heard a grunt.

"Rise-chan, we shouldn't do this," Yu weakly protested as Rise was nuzzling against his neck. The auburn haired girl had pulled their fearless leader down on the bed somehow.

"This is NOT happening in a room I'm sleeping in," Chie protested, furiously blushing at what might happen if she can't stop this.

"IÄÄÄK!" Was all the warning Chie had before Yukiko was practically flung at her by Viljam. Causing the two to land on bed in a heap, while the said boy scrambled away on the floor, clutching his neck.

"What the heck's going on here!?" Was the next phrase that ceased all activity. At the doorway, that no one remembered to close, was Naoto looking at the bizarre scenario in front of him. On the floor was Viljam, clutching a low area on his neck with a few buttons open on his button up uniform shirt from his struggle with Yukiko. On the bed, was Yu, who was being cuddled by Rise, one arm around his neck, while unbuttoning his shirt with the other. And then, there was Chie and Yukiko. Yukiko was on top of Chie, with both their clothes tussled a little from the previous struggle.

"Th-this isn't what it looks like," Chie stammered, realizing how Yu's situation might look. But not her own.

"What Satonaka-san said," Yu added in actually blushing at this situation.

And then came the punch-line. "Wanna join us, Naoto-kun," Rise asked seductively.

"Yeah, this is great," Yukiko added in as she started hugging Chie.

"Yukiko! Stop!" Chie's cries of protest were ignored by the currently overaffectionate girl.

"...I saw nothing!" And the beet red Naoto bolted away from this situation.

And then, Yu suddenly bounced off the bed, freeing himself from Rise's clutches. "We gotta move!" the silver haired leader said quickly as he grabbed Viljam and ran away, with the Finnish boy barely keeping up. Closing the door as they ran past it.

All the while Chie screeched something along the lines of, "DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!"

 **(The Guys' room. Few seconds later)**

"What's wrong with you two," Yosuke asked Yu and Viljam who just got inside and looked like they had been chased.

"I do NOT want to talk about it," Viljam said, leaping to the bed, and covered his head with a pillow.

"Uhhh... Yu-senpai," Kanji sounded out in question to Yu.

"...What Viljam said," Yu replied tiredly, flopping down on the bed himself. Leaving Kanji and Yosuke confused.

"Oh, right! Need to brush my teeth first," Viljam said, and got up to do just that.

All the while, Yosuke and Kanji looked on in confusion.

"...Okay, I just wanna sleep now," Yosuke said, completely done with today. However, the bed could only fit four of them... barely. Last night, Kanji offered to sleep on the floor, but the guy was promised the bed tonight. However, it was yet to be agreed on who would sleep on the floor tonight. "At least I now get the-" "If you try to make me sleep on the floor, not even the Detective Prince will ever find your corpse," Viljam interrupted tiredly from the bathroom.

"...Great." And so Yosuke succumbed to his fate.

* * *

 **AN: Yeah, I couldn't resist that minor alteration of club escapade. Had to give some development between Viljam and Chie however small.**

 **Oh, fun fact of the day: What happened to Viljam with that "wine in a soda bottle thing" That actually happened to me. There I was, the 7 year old me, at home, thirsty, I checked the fridge and I saw a pepsi bottle in there. So I poured a glass for myself and drank it... Except the moment it touched my tongue, I ran to the sink to spit the foul thing out and rinsed my tongue with water for good measure. Only then did I realize that the "pepsi" was a weird reddish color and lacked carbon. Since then, I swore I would never drink alcohol even after turning 18. And to this day, I still hate alcohol.**


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

 **AN: Phew. Sorry about taking so long. These past three weeks I was out in the family cabin. Barely had time to write anything at all between chopping wood, playing board/card games, and bathing in the hot tub. At the end of the day, I tended to be too tired to write or just couldn't focus.**

 **Regardless I hope this chapter is worth the wait.**

* * *

 **(Clamshell Inn(Guys' room). September 10th. Early morning)**

"So, who's gonna shower next," Yosuke asked as he exited the shower, fully clothed with a slightly wet hair.

"I'll pass," Kanji said, not feeling like he needed one right now.

"Then I guess I'll go," Viljam said as he finally got up from bed to do just that. However, he didn't get far, before seeing Yosuke gaping at him.

"What?"

Kanji had followed Yosuke's line of sight and begun to blush. The commotion also reached Yu, who looked at Viljam with pity from his couch at what was about to happen. Teddie also looked on in wonder at Viljam.

"What is it," Viljam asked, getting uncomfortable at the stares.

"WHAT IS THAT!?" Yosuke's cry was emphasized by his finger pointing at Viljam.

The Finnish boy was confused, "What's what?"

"Your neck," Yu supplied helpfully, wondering how the guy will react.

"My neck?" And with that, Viljam walked to a nearby mirror, and he did NOT like what he saw. "Hienoa. Aivan ihanaa **(Great. So wonderful)** ," Viljam commented dryly at the purple bruise on the right side of his lower neck.

"That's your reaction!?" The disbelief couldn't be clearer on Yosuke, "You got a freaking hickey, man!"

"A what-now?"

Cue Yosuke falling over. Kanji' s jaw slackened, for even he knew what a hickey was. Yu shook his head at the Finnish boy's ignorance, "I'm not even surprised anymore."

"What's a hickey," Viljam asked, not understanding the problem of him not knowing.

"A hickey, also known as love bite, is caused by sucking on a part of a person's body, which causes the blood vessels to break," Yu explained like he was reading it from a textbook.

Viljam blinked at this new information, "...a love bite? I thought Yukiko was trying to take a chunk out of my neck!"

And now all hell broke loose. "WHAT!? AMAGI DID THAT TO YOU!?" Guess who shouted that.

Teddie gasped, "Does that mean you scored with Yuki-chan?" Viljam wasn't sure which was worse, Teddie's insinuation, or the boy's look of admiration. "You have to teach me how to do that," the bear/boy said with sparkles in his eyes.

"I did NOT score with anyone," Viljam protested with a furious blush.

"Uhh...You're the man?" Kanji thought he was being supportive, but judging by the sudden spasmic flailing from Viljam, he was not.

"*Kh-kh-kh-kh-kh-kh-kh-kh* KANJI!" The Finnish boy wasn't sure if things could possibly get worse.

"You might want to cover that up before leaving this room," Yu warned the Finnish boy with an amused grin, "Because I doubt you would want rumors about who you slept with going around." And that statement confirmed that things can still get worse.

"...Just kill me," Viljam said, slumping his shoulders in mild depression.

"That's a new one," Yosuke commented, expecting something along the lines of, "Shut up or I'll kill you."

"...I'm just going to get my shower," was the last thing Viljam said, before getting in the bathroom and locked the door. Few seconds later, shower started.

"Should we be worried," Kanji asked, wondering if the resident Finnish was serious about his previous wish.

"What do you mean," Yu asked, out of curiosity.

"You heard what he said," Kanji argued.

Yosuke shook his head, "Come on, Kanji. I say something like that all the time."

"Yeah! Whenever he screws you over," Teddie said happily, earning a confused looks on the phrasing that didn't sound like the bear/boy.

Yosuke looked annoyed, "Don't repeat my words Ted!" Oh, that explains it.

Yu smiled at the scenario that he has gotten used to over these months. Still, part of him wondered how the girls would be today. Especially Chie, considering how they left her yesterday.

 **(Hagakure Ramen. September 10th. Afternoon)**

As it turned out, Chie wasn't too mad at Yu and Viljam for ditching her to Yukiko's cuddling. At least she didn't seem that way, but they couldn't really talk about it, since 1: Yosuke and Teddie would start interrogating on what the hell happened. And 2: They weren't sure how Rise and Yukiko would react, since they seemed normal now.

Anyway, after taking one more tour around the city, the gang was now in a ramen shop, near the train station.

"Mhmmm... This is great," Chie said in delight at the local beef bowl she was munching on.

"You said it," Viljam added in from his seat next to her. It was figured out that his uniform collar was high enough to cover the hickey, but the Finnish boy had to avoid any kind of posture that might reveal the undesired mark. So far only the guys know about the mark. Hopefully it'll stay that way.

Rise also looked very happy, "I couldn't eat here as much as I wanted because of the carbohydrates, but now I have the freedom to eat whatever I want."

"That's nice to hear," Yu said from his seat at a table across the booth most of the gang occupied.

Then Chie took note of Yukiko frowning at something and barely touching her food, "What's wrong, Yukiko? Is the food bad?"

This earned the black haired girl's attention, "Oh, no! It's just... What happened last night...? I can't remember anything past us getting to the second floor of the club."

"We probably just fell asleep pretty fast," Rise said without a care in the world, "Though I get the impression that things got wild."

Yosuke snickered to himself, before deciding to speak aloud. "Oh, Viljam got wild, alright."

Viljam nearly choked on his food at hearing that, "Että mitä **(Say what)**!?"

"Yosuke, don't," Yu tried to mouth at his friend.

"What do you mean, by that?" Rise wasn't sure if she was curious or alarmed.

"Nousku-kun," Yukiko asked in worry, "What is Hanamura-kun talking about?"

At that moment Chie decided to come to rescue, "N-nothing! Hanamura's just being an idiot!"

"Oh? That's all?" The weird thing is, Yukiko looked almost disappointed.

"Nothing new under the sun," Yu commented, hoping that Yosuke would stop at the cheap shots. Thankfully, Yosuke decided to cut his losses before Chie and/or Viljam got their hands on him.

It was lucky that he was on the other end of the booth, safely out of kicking or nose twisting range. "By the way, Rise-chan. Is it safe for you to be out here in the open?" The only reason Yosuke asked that, was because she might get swarmed if her fans happened to see her.

"Oh, no worries," Rise said cheerfully, before pointing at one of the walls, "See those signing boards? My autograph's up there too, but the cook doesn't give me a second glance." That made everyone glance at several signing boards, until they found the one with Rise's name on it. "Plus, I'm barely wearing any makeup."

"Not like you need it," came the almost automatic response from Viljam.

"What? What's that supposed to mean," Rise asked, not sure how to take that.

"You don't need makeup to look pretty," Viljam clarified.

"Awww. Thank you Nousku-senpai." Unfortunately, this exchange earned sideways glance from Chie who did not feel happy. Then Rise perked up, "Would you say the same thing about Yukiko-senpai," Rise's innocent question made the said girl snap at attention.

"Of course," Viljam said like it wasn't a big deal, though Yukiko couldn't help but blush at the compliment.

"What about Chie-senpai," Rise said, suppressing a devilish grin as she said it.

Viljam opened his mouth to speak, but paused. Instead, he gave Rise a look that seemed to be a warning. "She needs it the least," Viljam finally said neutrally and returned to his food.

"..Thanks," Chie said, unsure if she should take that as a compliment.

"Wow... a natural ladies man," Yosuke commented again cheekily.

The Finnish decided to ignore that. "... Naoto-san, why are you sitting so far from us," Viljam then asked Naoto, who indeed had two seats between himself and the rest of them.

"No particular reason," Naoto said curtly, but he seemed awkward for some reason. Actually, the teen detective was very reluctant to be anywhere near Viljam. Everyone who remembered yesterday figured that whatever Viljam said had spooked the guy

Chie quickly nudged Viljam to get his attention. "Apologize," Chie whispered sternly.

It took a few seconds for Viljam to understand what his girlfriend meant. But when he did, the Finnish boy turned to Naoto's direction again, "If it's because of what I said yesterday, then I'm sorry."

"No, no. Nothing's wrong... what you said doesn't bother me," Naoto said, trying to sound calm.

Judging by Viljam's face, it wasn't working, "Hey, there's nothing wrong with being short. It shouldn't make your job any harder, unlike me who has an asthma."

That information made Naoto blink, "...Did you...? Nousku-senpai, are you saying that you were talking about my height last night?" The boy sounded incredulous at the Finnish boy's confession.

That reaction earned a worried look from Viljam, "Well... yes. Unless you have some kind of condition you don't-" "Just ignore him," Yu interrupted, feeling that Viljam was about to make things worse if he finished that line of thought, "He has a bad habit of making people uncomfortable without realizing it."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do." That retort came from Chie and Yosuke in unison.

Viljam looked towards Yukiko for support, but the Amagi heiress only had an apologetic look. Then the Finnish boy glanced at Kanji for help, but the punk merely blushed and turned away. In the end, all Viljam could do was grumble and stuff his mouth full of food.

Naoto looked on at this exchange with a sweatdrop, before getting up. "In any case, I should probably go now."

Yu held back a snicker, believing that the detective just wanted to get away from them.

"Aww... are you sure," Rise asked in disappointment, "The trains aren't leaving for awhile."

"Quite sure," Naoto replied, "I do not wish to be late." And with that Naoto left without even waiting for a reply.

"He hates us," Yosuke said with a grin.

"Or thinks that we're weird," Yu added in with a smile.

"Why can't we act like normal people," Chie sighed, having finished her bowl now.

"What's a normal person," came out of Viljam, who also had finished his meal.

That earned him an annoyed look from the girls. "Nousku-kun, we're serious," Yukiko scolded.

"So am I," Viljam said without missing a beat, "Now someone tell me what a normal person is."

Yosuke opened his mouth to say something..., but he couldn't come up with anything to say. Actually, no one looked like they could come up with a proper answer. "See what I mean," Viljam said with a smile.

"What do you think is a normal person," Yu decided to ask.

"Such a thing doesn't exist," Viljam replied, "I mean, everyone does something someone else thinks is weird."

"Yeah, well Teddie here is weird," Kanji retorted, pointing at the said bear.

"...I don't know... occasionally annoying maybe... Okay he's a little weird," Viljam conceded although he didn't sound very sure.

Yu glanced at the bear in question. The bear didn't make a move or even retort to anything they said about him. Odd. "Hey, Teddie. Are you just going to take this," Yu asked the bear, who decided to be in his costume again, despite the steamy heat that must be coming from his food. No response. "Teddie?"

"Yo, Ted?" Yosuke's call was followed by a poke. Again, no response.

Kanji then got up to the bear. "Hey! Don't make me rub your fur the wrong way," the punk said, before doing the said action. "...Dude... He ain't moving," Kanji said, sounding worried now. A worry that was now seeping to others.

Chie had a terrifying thought as she looked at Teddie's unmoving mascot face. "Guys! What if staying in this world for too long is bad for Teddie?"

"Oh, shit," Yosuke exclaimed, getting up.

"Teddie, this isn't funny," Viljam said, but even as he tried to deny it, he was terrified for the bear.

Even Yu got off his seat, "Teddie, please-"

"*BURP*"

"What?" Was the collective reaction to the loud belch that came from Teddie.

"Sorry, I think I ate too much," Teddie said.

"Dude! Don't scare us like that," Yosuke scolded.

"We seriously thought something was wrong," Kanji added in.

"How much have you eaten anyway," Viljam asked, eyeing the pile of bowls next to the bear.

Yosuke being the closest at the moment, decided to count them, "One, two, three... Ten bowls!?"

That statement earned looks of shock from everyone. Chie even felt threatened at Teddie stealing the glory of beating the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge first.

"Yuki-chan's makes eleven," Teddie said proudly.

At that explanation, Yukiko instantly turned back to her bowl... And saw that it had disappeared. The black haired girl was not happy, "What the hell, Teddie!?" That earned exclamation marks from everyone. Yukiko never swears.

"You weren't eating it," Teddie said with some difficulty.

"I was going to finish it," the black haired girl retorted, sounding heartbroken.

"Great job, Ted," Viljam said, crossing his arms in disapproval.

"You don't steal someone's food," Yu added in, sounding like a parent scolding a misbehaving child.

"But Yuki-chan wasn't eating it," Teddie defended weakly.

"I was going to finish it," Yukiko repeated her previous words, sounding a little more angry.

"How're you even going to pay all that," Rise then asked, causing Teddie to sweat... How can a costume even sweat?

"You're not, are you," Yu stated in a matter of fact tone.

"I only got my ticket," Teddie said weakly, "Can you please help me out? Beartty please? Besides, I seriously can't move right now!" True to his words, Teddie was unable to get up from his sitting position.

"I'm not paying for ten bowls," Yosuke immediately said.

The bear gave a pleading look to others.

"Sorry, Teddie. I can't pay for something like that," Rise said apologetically.

"Don't look at me like that," Viljam said, knowing that Yukiko would probably not like him if he helped the bear. Also, you don't steal someone's food. And that's ignoring the fact that Viljam didn't want to spend his hard earned money to pay someone's debt.

"Like heck I'm paying," Chie said, knowing that she can't afford it.

Kanji just shook his head for a no. Yu had a pitying look, "Sorry, Ted. One must carry responsi...bility." The silver haired boy trailed off as he remembered Igor saying something similar being the condition for the help the creepy old man was giving.

And Yukiko... She gave the bear a glare.

Yu then checked his phone for a time. His eyes widenend, "Guys, the meeting time is getting closer."

"How soon," Chie asked, but checked her own phone anyway. "15 minutes left!? Where did the time go!?"

"Great," Yosuke sighed in annoyance, "What should we do about this guy?"

"Leave it behind," Yukiko said coldly, before getting up and leaving.

"Yukiko, wait for me," Chie called after her friend, dragging Viljam as she went, earning a "Hei!" from the said boy.

Yu honestly didn't want to leave Teddie, but he had difficult enough time smuggling him to their room alone the night before yesterday. He did not feel confident about moving the over-stuffed bear. "We're sorry, Teddie," Yu apologized to the bear.

The bear started panicking at hearing that. "Wait! I don't have a return ticket," Teddie cried out.

Yosuke put his hands together in a prayer, ignoring the poor bear's plight, "Farewell, Teddie. We shall leave you with our memories of youth."

Kanji, Rise and Yu also joined the silent prayer.

"Guys! Please don't leave me," Teddie whined, struggling to get up, but it was in vain. And then everyone turned to leave. "NOOOOOOOO!"

 **(Train to Inaba. Several minutes later)**

The gang, minus Teddie, was currently trying to kill time. Yosuke revealed that he had taken a deck of cards with him in case they needed it, but they didn't need it during the trip. The Junes boy wanted to try a round of poker, but no one was interested. Then Viljam suggested his favorite card game, Cross Eight. When everyone wondered where the name came from, Viljam quickly explained what the card types are called in Finnish: Spade was Pata **(Pot),** Club is Risti **(Cross)** , Hearts is Hertta and Diamond is Ruutu **(Rectangle)**.

Anyway, while Yosuke wasn't thrilled about getting his ass handed to him in a card game by Viljam, it turns out that in this game, luck was a pretty large factor. That, and some level of tactical thinking.

Speaking of which... "And 9 of diamonds," Yukiko said as she put the last card in her hand above the 8 of diamonds, "Does this mean I win?"

"Yes," Viljam said in annoyance. In the game of Cross Eight, the purpose is to get rid of all the cards in your hand. The deck is dealt to all the players who wish to partake in this game, without any jokers. Then, the game is started by putting the 8 of clubs on the table by whoever has it. From there the turns are rotated clockwise. Each player puts a card from their hand to the table, if they're able. You cannot lie about not having a card... or you could, but that would easily earn the wrath of other players. Besides, if you're unable to put a card away from your hand, you have to take a "collateral".

"I can't believe you were able to hold onto that," Yosuke complained, revealing the rest of his hand, which had a 2, 4 and jack of diamonds. The only three cards he had from the diamonds group. In Cross Eight, after an eight of any group is put on the table, you must then either put out another eight, or the matching seven beneath their respective eights. After the 7 is put on the table, you need to put in the matching 9 above the eight to continue the line. After this is done, the players can start piling cards on top of 7 or 9. On 9, you need to put a 10, jack, queen, king and ace, in that order, to complete the set. On 7, you need to pile 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2, to complete that set. The options you get are dependent on the cards in your hand as well as what other players put in. Naturally, players with a lot of choices can effectively control how the game flows, but that flow can easily be lost if the options are used poorly.

Unfortunaely, Yukiko didn't use her options poorly. Viljam was much less lucky compared to Yosuke, for he had 3, King and Ace of diamonds, which he never could play because Yukiko managed to hold onto the 9 of diamonds by some miracle. Still, Viljam's lucky he wasn't the last person to take the collateral. "So, it's... 38 points for me," Viljam said counting the points his cards gave.

"23 points," Yu said, revealing his hand had Queen, 6 and 5 of diamonds. Pretty good straight, if Yukiko hadn't blocked the diamonds by keeping the 9 away.

"At least I only get 17 points," Yosuke said in relief.

"If you count the collateral, that makes 42," Viljam said cheekily, for Yosuke was the one left with the collateral. The collateral is worth 25 points, so Yosuke got far more points than he would've liked. "It's just a shame I don't have the Fool's Hat." And with that, he and Yukiko started laughing. The collateral is a kind of object one takes, it can be anything really. But back home, Viljam and his family used a funny hat to mark the collateral. They call it, the Fool's Hat, or in Finnish: Narrin Hattu. But in this case, the item was just a 100 yen coin Yu had decided to provide.

"You're an asshole," Yosuke complained. The Junes boy was pretty sure the Finnish would've loved to see the hat on his head.

"Hyppää järveen **(Jump in a lake)** ," Viljam said cheekily, earning an annoyed glare from the Junes boy for using words he can't understand. "Anyway, since Yukiko put the last card, she gets 0 points. And now we move onto the next round," Viljam said as he scribbled down their score on a notebook page.

"I believe it's my turn to deal," Yosuke said as he gathered the rest of the cards so he could shuffle them.

"How long does this game go on," Chie asked in curiosity. She, Kanji and Rise felt content on watching the game.

"Until someone's score goes over 100," Viljam replied, "Depending on the cards left in your hand, in addition to the collateral, that could be the next round.

"Or very long time from now," Yukiko chimed in, "Assuming, that we only get one or two low point cards left in our hands."

"The probability for that is pretty low," Yu said as he watched Yosuke shuffle. For some reason, Yosuke cheating in a card game felt like a very real possibility.

"It has happened," Viljam said simply, "More often than you'd think." Indeed, the Finnish boy remembered several close games with his family that left one or two cards in everyone else's hands.

"Do you think we have the time to go full game," Yukiko asked as Yosuke had started dealing.

"...Well, depends on how fast we all go. Actually, maybe we could've used the speed rules," Viljam said, feeling stupid for not thinking that sooner.

"What're 'speed rules'," Rise asked from her seat in front of Yu's.

"With speed rules, instead of a collateral, you take a card from the player on your right," Viljam replied, "And the game continues until every card is played. Of course, whoever lost their hand first wins."

"That sounds simpler than this," Yu said, picking up the cards after Yosuke was done dealing.

"Yeah, but less fun if you ask me," Viljam said, picking up his own cards and arranged them by their group.

"Are there any other card games unique to Finland," Yukiko asked, after arranging her cards.

"Well, there's Rommi, but I don't enjoy it," Viljam said as he threw out the 8 of clubs. Or Risti Kasi **(Cross Eight)** as they say in Finland.

"What's Rommi," Yu asked in curiosity as he dropped 7 of clubs.

Viljam frowned in thought about how he should explain this, "Well for that game, we would've needed three decks. The purpose in that game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand."

"Like in this game," Chie asked with a frown, "Isn't that the same."

During this exchange, Yosuke had dropped 8 of diamonds, while Yukiko put 9 of clubs on the table. "Not really," Viljam replied as he put in a 7 of diamonds, "In that game you need to gather a straight and triplets. A straight being a set of four cards, like say... from 10 to King of clubs. While a triplets is three cards of the same number." During this explanation, Viljam had dropped a 10 of clubs. " _Jos joku ei pistä hertta kasia, olen pulassa_ _ **(If someone doesn't put 8 of hearts, I'm in trouble)**_ _,_ " Viljam thought in worry.

Unfortunately, it looked like none of the other players had any intetnion of releasing the desired card. So on his next turn, Viljam was forced to take a collateral.

Then Yukiko perked up at remembering something, "Wait a second! Wasn't Rommi a Finnish word for rum?"

"What!?" Came out of Chie, Yu and Yosuke in varying tones. Rise and Kanji just looked confused. "Uhh... What's rum," Kanji asked, unfamiliar with the word.

"An alcoholic drink," Yu replied, earning the same shocked expression from Kanji and Rise.

"So it's a drinking game," Rise asked, earning a face-palm from Viljam and a questioning/suspicious look from everyone else directed at the said boy.

"Voi vallujen kevät," Viljam exclaimed in Finnish. He did NOT want this kind of conversation again.

 **(Dojima household. September 10th. Evening)**

"Thank you big bro," Nanako said happily. Yu had gotten the little girl an Iwatodai lamp from Port Island as a souvenir.

"You're welcome," Yu replied, finding Nanako's happiness infectious.

At that moment, the door opened revealing Dojima.

"Hi, dad," Nanako greeted happily.

"Welcome back, uncle Dojima," Yu greeted too.

The detective smiled at the two, before focusing on Yu, "I should be saying that to you."

Nanako quickly stepped forward to show the bag containing her souvenir,"Look! Big bro got me a souvenir."

While Dojima couldn't see inside the bag, he was still smiling at the action, "Nice. Did you remember to thank him?"

"Of course," Nanako replied, face beaming with happiness. Then she went to her room, eager to set the new decoration up.

"That must've come out of your own pocket. Thanks," Dojima said, feeling just a tiny bit bad.

"It's no problem," Yu replied with a smile. The silver haired boy doesn't have a real allowance, but he has received a monetary reward for his tests. Other than that, Dojima doesn't try to make him improve his grades. Not that there's much to improve. Anyway, Yu has taken a few part-time jobs to get some spending money. Some of which he was more than happy to spend on Nanako's souvenir.

Dojima nodded at Yu's answer, before looking thoughtful. "You were at Tatsumi Port island with first years, right? Did you talk to Naoto Shirogane," the detective then asked.

Yu looked curious about the inquiry, "I did talk to him a little. Why do you ask?"

Dojima let out a sigh, "He may be a working detective, but he is still a year younger than you."

Something about that phrase sounded odd. "What does that mean," Yu asked simply.

The hard boiled detective of Inaba had a wistful look, "Would you try to make friends with him? He's a cocky brat, yes..., but he's honest."

Yu had to resist a chuckle. It was much more fun watching hims squirm than the silver haired boy would admit. "I wouldn't say 'cocky brat', but yeah he seemed a little full of himself," Yu admitted with an amused look, before fixing his face to more neutral, "But we've already made some effort."

Dojima raised an eyebrow. "We? Oh, you mean you and the rest of your friends," the detective said figuring it out almost immediately.

"Guilty as charged," Yu quipped, earning a chuckle from the man. Then the silver haired boy took a more serious expression, "Why do you request that though?"

The previously amused expression turned to a sour one. "*sigh* The higher-ups are losing their patience with him... It doesn't matter if his argument holds any merit or not. At this rate he will get himself booted off the team," Dojima explained.

"What argument," Yu asked getting more curious.

Dojima gave a stern look, "As a detective, I cannot say any details... But Shirogane believes that there's something wrong with the case.

"Like what," Yu asked in concern.

Dojima gave a mostly playful glare, "What did I say about details."

"Sorry, I'm just worried," Yu replied with mostly playful worry.

"You just worry about school," Dojima said, deciding to let the whole thing go, "But sorry for keeping you. You must be tired." At the last sentence, Dojima walked towards the hall that would lead to Nanako's room. "Nanako! would you prepare the bath," Dojima called towards the hall.

Yu was tired, but a bath sounded nice. That is, after he has put his luggage in his room. All the while idly wondering what kind of thoughts would run through Chie's mind right about now.

 **(Chie's house. Roughly the same time)**

"Why is this happening to me," Chie griped into her phone in horror.

" _...You? You're not the one who got bitten,_ " Viljam retorted from his end of the line.

Chie felt like kicking Viljam where the sun don't shine, if he were in the same room. "Okay... does Yukiko know," Chie had to ask, just to be sure. Back in the train, Chie had glanced at Viljam's cards over his shoulder, only to barely catch a glimpse of a purple mark right beneath his collar. She wasn't even sure why she didn't cry out "WHAT IS THAT!?", but she did get a blush at the implications. But having the time to think back on yesterday, she remembered Viljam clutching his neck. Which happened right after he flung Yukiko at her.

" _No. And she never will as long as I have a say in it,_ " Viljam said firmly.

"...Okay... that would be for the best," Chie said, flopping into her bed tiredly. Honestly, she just wanted to sleep that horrible knowledge out of her head. Sure Yukiko wasn't in the right mind, but our Kung Fu lover still felt a little hurt at her best friend's, of all people, advances to Viljam. Chie needed something to distract herself, anything. Then she got the idea from a certain ache she had, "Hey, Nousku-kun... Do you know how to massage... feet?"

.

.

.

" _Ööö...Yes... Why do you ask,_ " Viljam asked, taken back by the sudden change of topic.

"N-no reason," Chie stammered, not wanting to admit that her feet were aching a bit. Actually, considering the magic the Finnish boy did to her back, Chie was torn between being mortified or extatic about getting the same treatment to her feet.

" _...Okayy,_ " Came the skeptical reply from Viljam, " _When do you want it?_ " But he seemed to go with it anyway.

Chie blushed despite knowing full well what Viljam meant. Thankfully he can't see it. "M-maybe... sometime after school?" Chie actually had no idea how that could happen... At least, without running the risk of someone seeing them and then babble about it.

Viljam couldn't help but chuckle, " _Chie-san, you're just too cute right now._ "

Contrary to previous experience, Chie saw red at the phrase that usually made her heart race. "Nousku-kun! This is serious," Chie practically shouted, "If I let you massage my feet somewhere public, someone might see us!"

Viljam was silent for a moment " _...O-okay then..., sorry. Yukiko's place or your place are the first ones that come to mind... Unless your parents are home, or we want to run the risk of Yukiko finding out,_ " Viljam said, sounding mildly hurt at the first sentence.

Chie didn't catch it though, she was just relieved Viljam started taking this seriously. "...Yeah, that might be a problem."

From there, the two started throwing out ideas on where Chie would get her massage.

* * *

 **AN: And there we go. Not much happening here, except for the fact that the card game part came out on a whim. Also, sorry for not giving translation on some sentences.**

 **Fun fact: Cross Eight and Rommi are real. Unfortunately, I don't have much luck with those two. And Rommi I just don't enjoy, and I have no idea why.**


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

 **AN: Hey there. And sorry for taking so long with this... Again. I've had... multiple distractions, the least of which is my video games. That and I had problems deciding where I'm going with this chapter. Regardless, Here's the next chapter.**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. September 11th. Lunch hour)**

Yu had been a little puzzled all morning... Why? Because Yukiko was acting strange today. First, she came to class alone. It had become somewhat of a familiar sight for Yukiko to come in with Viljam and/or Chie.

Speaking of which, the aforementioned couple, Yu still found it a little funny, arrived not far behind. Only, it looked like something was troubling them, or at least Chie. But the thing that really clued him in on something being wrong was when Yukiko practically ran away from the classroom as soon as lunch started.

"What's wrong with Amagi-san," Yu asked Chie, who looked torn about something.

"Whuh? Uhhh..., n-nothing! All is fine," Chie stammered nervously.

Yu gave a sigh at that pathetic excuse for an answer, "Then why did she run away from you?"

Chie looked like a deer caught in headlights, opening and closing her mouth to say something.

Then Viljam got up from his seat, "Can we do this somewhere else? It's... a personal matter."

That question earned an alarmed look from the green clad girl. "Nousku-kun! Are you insane," The said girl practically hissed.

Viljam glanced around himself to make sure, the other students aren't reacting to them, before leaning close enough to Chie to quickly whisper something Yu didn't catch. Whatever the Finnish said, made Chie nod grudgingly. Then the Finnish boy glared at Yosuke who had been uncharacteristically quiet during this exchange, "And you're coming with us." The tone Viljam used left no room for argument.

Unfortunately, Yosuke didn't realize that. "What? What do you need me for," Yosuke asked, earning a murderous glare from Chie.

"This is all your fault, you jerk," Chie accused Yosuke.

"What!? I don't even know what's going on," Yosuke said in angry confusion.

Viljam looked to get increasingly more annoyed at Yosuke, "We will explain, once we get to the roof. Now get moving." With that Viljam already started walking. Chie gave Yosuke a warning glare before following suit.

Yu gave Yosuke a sympathetic look, "Yosuke, I think we should go. If only to find out why Viljam and Satonaka-san think you caused... whatever is going on."

The Junes boy did not like this situation, but he just grumbled and moved out with Yu.

 **(With Yukiko)**

Yukiko was outside the courtyard. She had her lunch box open but the food remained untouched. She sighed again, still wondering why this was happening. When she woke up, she felt like today would be another good day at school with her friends. Including Viljam and Chie, but after seeing that mark on Viljam's neck... Yukiko just felt betrayed. Worst part is, Viljam refused to talk about it... Or actually, that's the second worst part, the worst part is...

"Yukiko-senpai, are you okay," asked a familiar girl's voice.

Yukiko turned her head to come face to face with concerned looking Rise. "Oh, Rise-chan. What are you doing here," the red clad girl asked the auburn haired girl.

"I just got out of class to see you sprinting here," Rise replied, sitting next to Yukiko as she spoke. "Is everything alright," the former idol asked again.

"Y-yes. Everything's fine," Yukiko stammered.

Judging by the look on Rise's face, she didn't buy it, "Then why are you sulking here by yourself?"

"I'm not sulking," Yukiko protested a little too adamantly.

Which made Rise even more convinced that something is up. "Senpai... Please, I can clearly see something is bothering you. What is it," Rise pried again.

"Nothing! You wouldn't understand," Yukiko said, feeling a lump in her throat.

Rise gave Yukiko a sympathetic look, "Yukiko-senpai, please, let me try."

Yukiko looked hesitant. "...Do you remember how Hanamura-kun said that things got... w-wild for Nousku-kun," the black haired girl was able to say blushing at the "wild" part.

Rise tilted her head in thought, "You mean yesterday? Yeah, I remember. Why?"

Yukiko glanced around nervously to see if anyone else was around. "...He has a... He has...," Yukiko tried to say while tapping at a lower part of her neck.

Rise just looked on in confusion, "He has a what?"

"...L-l-love bite," Yukiko managed to say as her face started rivaling her cardigan in color.

Now Rise had a shocked look. "A-are you sure it was that," Rise asked before realizing something, "Wait! How did you see it!?" If Yukiko had seen the hickey he would've have to have been without a shirt.

"...He was wearing a regular shirt at the time," Yukiko said, still red faced.

"Oh." And now Rise felt just a little stupid for not thinking that. "Soooo. Where did it come from," Rise then asked, having a suspect right after finishing that question.

"He wouldn't say. I tried to get it out of him, but he refused to talk," Yukiko said, before looking sad, "I think it came from Chie."

That earned wide eyes from Rise. "W-what makes you think that," Rise asked. Sure, she had seen Viljam and Chie on that date and how they seemed comfortable enough to hug each other, but she had a hard time believing that they were _that_ far yet.

"...When I mentioned to her about it, she said 'It's still there?'," Yukiko said, imitating Chie's questioning tone. "And right after that, I ran," the black haired girl finished, letting out a small sob.

"...Oh." Was all Rise could say at that. " _This is bad,_ " the girl thought in her head. "...I'm sorry for asking this, but... Why did you run," Rise asked with a heavy heart, hoping that her suspicions were wrong.

"...I don't know," Yukiko said sadly, "...I just... I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that Chie would...*sob*." Yukiko couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence as she started sobbing a little.

"Senpai," Rise said wrapping Yukiko into a one armed hug.

 **(With Yu and the others)**

Now Yu saw the big problem after Viljam and Chie had explained the situation. Yukiko had seen Viljam's hickey. It had faded considerably, but it was still noticeable. Thankfully right now, the high collar of Viljam's uniform shirt keeps it hidden. Then Chie went and blurted out that she knew about it.

"So basically, Amagi saw your hickey and thinks Satonaka did it," Yosuke asked. The Junes boy would've found it funny if the said girl didn't contemplate murdering him. Or that's what he assumed.

"Yeah," Viljam replied simply, "Thanks to you... törppö **(dummy)**." The last word had a lot of venom to it.

Yosuke didn't like the accusation, "Hey! It's not my fault she took it seriously. You're the one who didn't tell her the truth."

Viljam's hateful gaze switched to an incredulous one, "Oh suuuure. Yukiko, you were so drunk two nights ago that you wanted me to sleep with you and gave me this." Viljam's sarcastic remark was emphasized by pointing at his currently hidden mark.

"Don't say it like that!" Chie did not need to hear it phrased like that. The fact that Yukiko said something like that at all was mortifying enough, thank you very much.

"Sorry."

Yu cleared his throat to earn everyone's attention, "So. Basically we can't tell Amagi-san the truth, but we also can't let this go without any kind of explanation." The silver haired boy held his chin as he started thinking.

"...Can't we just let her think that Satonaka caused it?" Yosuke immediately regretted saying that as he felt two people's worth of killing intent directed at him.

"Unless the next thing that comes out of your mouth is something smart, please keep it to yourself," Viljam said serenely.

Chie took over with a mighty stomp of her leg, " So be helpful, or shut up!"

Yosuke rapidly nodded, because he feared that verbal reply would be considered stupid right now.

"Let's get to work then," Yu piped up in an attempt to save Yosuke's skin. Thankfully Viljam and Chie were more concerned about getting out of this mess than terrorizing the Junes boy.

 **(After School)**

Yukiko managed to sprint down the stairs to the shoe lockers in an attempt to avoid Viljam and Chie. She really didn't want to face them right now.

"Yukiko wait!"

Speak of the devil. "Go away," Yukiko said quickly, not wanting to deal with Viljam.

"Not until you hear me out," Viljam said almost pleadingly, "Please."

Yukiko glanced at Viljam after getting her shoes on. "...Can we talk about this later," Yukiko finally asked looking at the floor, "I don't want to deal with this now."

As much as VIljam wanted to get this over with, he had a feeling that he would only make things worse, "...Okay then... What will you do in the meantime?"

"...I'm going to hang out with Rise-chan today," Yukiko said, walking out with her usual grace. Although Viljam had a feeling she was trying to steel herself. Rightfully so.

"Where's Yukiko?" Asked Chie who had just gotten down the stairs.

"Going to hang out with Rise. Or so she said," Viljam sighed without turning around.

"What?" And faster than Viljam could react, Chie was right in front of him, "Wh-why would she do that?"

Viljam could only shrug helplessly as he had no idea, "...Maybe Rise is trying to help?"

Unfortunately, that only earned the Finnish a look of horror from Chie, "Yukiko hates me now."

"What?"

"Ohhh... What if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore... What if she wants to curse me," Chie rambled, looking very scared at the last one. Then the green clad girl clutched her head while shaking in terror, "Why did this have to happen!?"

"Chie, stop," Viljam exclaimed firmly, forgetting to add the honorific he had been so dutiful to use, grabbing her shoulders, "Breathe slowly." The instruction came because it seemed like Chie was breathing erratically. "Better," The Finnish asked as soon as the girl was breathing normally.

"...Not really."

"Good enough," Viljam sighed, before having a serious expression, "Look, Yukiko can't avoid me forever. I mean, we do live under the same roof. I'll corner her when she gets back home. Besides, I think it wouldn't be that easy to make her hate you."

Chie didn't look entirely convinced, but at least she looked like she wasn't going to flip anymore. "I still blame Hanamura for this," Chie said feeling like kicking the guy the next time she saw him.

"I also _want_ to blame him, but... I just don't think it's fair this time," Viljam said chuckling at the latter part.

"Sure," Chie said with a frown that said "totally unconvinced".

Then a lightbulb went off in Viljam's head, "Hey, do you still want that foot massage? If Yukiko's not home for a while then I can do that there."

Chie instantly perked up at the idea, but then she remembered something, "What about the staff? Or Yukiko's mom? Won't they wonder why you're..." The green clad girl couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence as the implications made her redden in embarrassment ever so slightly.

"It's just a massage," Viljam said matter of factly.

"Yeah, but you'll be...," Chie clammed up at almost saying feet.

"...What are you thinking," Viljam asked in suspicion at Chie clamming up like that.

"Nothing! Let's just get it over with," Chie said quickly, not wanting to think anymore. Then got her shoes out of her locker and started putting them on quickly.

"Okay," Viljam said and started to put on his own shoes.

 **(Amagi Inn. September 11th. Few hours later)**

As much as Chie wanted to get her still aching feet massaged, she couldn't resist getting steak skewers from Souzai. But that little detour didn't last long. What lasted long was sneaking her in Viljam's room. Why? Because Chie was a little paranoid about what the workers might think and by extension, tell Yukiko. Viljam thought it wouldn't matter, but Chie did not agree with him.

Though right now, Chie was laying on her back on Viljam's couch, and she was in heaven. She could feel Viljam's firm but gentle grasp on one foot. Pressing and sometimes kneading the muscles.

"Am I seriously that good, or has no one massaged your feet before," Viljam asked seriously from his position on the floor where he was almost eye level with Chie's feet, after hearing a particularly loud moan.

"Shut up and keep working." Chie tried to sound annoyed, but Viljam had done too good of a job on her for the girl to muster any negative emotions.

"Käskystä, oi pomotin **(By command, oh bosser)** ," Viljam said jokingly as he switched foot.

"Seriously..., how are you so... good," Chie asked trying to stay coherent with Viljam's ministrations.

"...Linnea once said that if I ever got a girlfriend, she would be very lucky," Viljam replied, before chuckling at the memory, all the while never stopping, "But I never took it seriously."

"Were you giving her a massage at the time," Chie managed to ask before wincing at a particularly sore spot her boyfriend found. The Kung Fu loving girl could easily see why Viljam's little sister would say something like that if she got a piece of this treatment.

"Yeah. A foot massage," Viljam said before going into a laughing fit at the slight irony. Stopping his work as he couldn't focus anymore.

That didn't sit well with Chie, "Hey! Who told you to stop?" Again, she tried to sound annoyed but came off as... well guess heartbroken would be the closest term.

That made Viljam stop laughing and quickly return to his work. "Sorry."

"It's... uhhh... okay," Chie said, managing to choke out a moan in the process. "Just... don't stop," Chie said, before her entire body twitched.

The Finnish immediately stopped his work after witnessing that. "What was that," Viljam asked, refusing to believe that he caused it.

Chie blushed at Viljam's incredulous gaze. "Well... It's your fault for being so good," the girl snapped at the guy.

Before Viljam could say anything, the two heard a knock on his door, startling them. "Nousku-chan," called a voice the two were awfully familiar with, Yukiko's mother. "I would like to have a word with you," the woman said from behind the still closed door.

Viljam turned to Chie who looked fearful. " _Don't make a sound,_ " Viljam managed to mouth, even though the girl had clamped her hands over her mouth. The only reason he was worried, was because the woman behind the door sounded stern.

"And please get dressed." That sly remark earned a confused look from Viljam.

"What do you mean, get dressed," Viljam asked loudly in confusion.

"...Oh please, you know what I mean. Which reminds me, you too should get dressed... Chie-chan." And now Chie had gone pale, while Viljam's eyes widened. How did she figure it out? "I heard you moaning," Yukiko's mother said, as if reading their thoughts.

And with that, the two realized what the current manager of the inn thought they were doing.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Chie cried out first. Then Viljam went to the door and opened it to see the older woman smiling in satisfaction.

After briefly seeing Chie on the sofa, before the said girl hid behind it in panic. The woman let out a chuckle. "Did you give Chie-chan a massage?"

Viljam's jaw slackened at the deduction the woman did, "...How?"

"Your mother once mentioned that you know how to massage," Yukiko's mother said with a pleased smile, "Of course, Chie-chan having no socks were also pretty telling."

"Y-you've talked to her? How," Viljam asked. His mother doesn't speak Japanese and the only foreign language she knows is... And then the answer hit him, "You know English?"

The woman chuckled at the deduction, "Smart boy. Yes, I know enough to deal with foreign customers if necessary."

"...I see," was all Viljam could say. Before the bigger question hit him, "How often do you talk to mom?"

"With my responsibilities, what do you think," the woman asked with a knowing smirk.

Viljam looked a little annoyed, before he used his small gray cells. Considering how busy Mrs Amagi is most of the time with the Inn. Adding in the time difference. And lastly, his mother's day schedule, not counting possible business trips. "Few times a month?"

"Good guess," Mrs Amagi said almost sounding proud. "But enough about that, do you know why my daughter looked so distraught this morning," the woman then asked, sounding more serious.

Viljam was afraid of that. While Yukiko was the only one who saw what the girl had unknowingly done to him, no one else knew what was going on. "...It's nothing serious, if that's what you're worried about," Viljam said, trying his best to sound sure.

"This wouldn't happen to be about your relationship with Chie-chan," the woman asked, once again startling Viljam. And he could be imagining it, but Viljam was sure he heard Chie wince in her hiding spot.

"Wh-what relationship? *ehhehee*"

Mrs Amagi crossed her arms with an unimpressed look, "Don't think I haven't seen how you started acting whenever Chie-chan was even mentioned lately." That accusation made Viljam wince. "Or that I don't remember about the fact that you went to the Summer festival with her alone."

"I... Well...," Viljam felt very afraid now. Afraid of Mrs Amagi telling him to never meet Chie again. Afraid that Yukiko would hate him for it, and worst of all... Ruining the long lasting friendship of Yukiko and Chie.

"I asked him to go with me," Chie finally spoke up, getting out of her hiding spot as she said it.

"Ohh...," The Amagi matriarch raised an eyebrow at what Chie just said, "That is something he didn't mention. But that doesn't matter. Now I ask again, is my daughter's distraught behavior from this morning caused by your relationship?"

And now Chie's previous determination wavered. "Umm... No. It's just a misunderstanding." But she soldiered through.

"What kind of misunderstanding," Mrs Amagi pressed.

At that, Chie was at loss. She could go with the explanation they had come up for Yukiko, but then they would have to show Viljam's mark.

"...Back on school trip..." And Viljam decided to take his chances, "Me, Chie and Yukiko visited a club with our friends. Yukiko and another of our friends fell asleep in the club. So we had to carry them."

Mrs Amagi looked alarmed at the mention of a club. Thankfully, Chie decided to chime in, "The place wasn't shady, and they didn't serve alcohol at all." That seemed to put the woman at ease. Then Chie took on a serious expression, "But then on our way to the hotel, a crazy lady appeared. Clearly drunk."

The woman looked on patiently, nodding for them to continue. And Viljam took a large inhale of air "We managed to get away, but she managed to... do this," Viljam said and he lowered the collar to show his faded hickey.

The older woman's eyes widened at the still lightly purple mark. And then she actually laughed a little.

This earned a blanched look from Chie and Viljam. "I got assaulted and you're laughing at it," Viljam asked in shocked horror. Even though the two were lying right now, Viljam would still think that being assaulted isn't a laughing matter.

"My apologies, it's just... the poor woman must've been desperate," Mrs Amagi said a lot more cheerfully than was probably appropriate.

Viljam wasn't sure why, but he felt very insulted. "I guess." But decided to keep it to himself. "I just... I felt like a little bunny about to be... devoured by a big bad wolf," Viljam said, shivering and hugging himself as he spoke.

"I see," Mrs Amagi said with a more sympathetic look. "Still..., what does that have to do with Yukiko, if she was asleep as you said," the woman then asked.

At that Viljam sighed, before revealing the rest, "Yukiko saw my mark this morning and jumped to conclusions because of what a certain moron said yesterday. Yosuke!" At the Junes boy's name, Viljam turned to look at nothing in a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"I see," Mrs Amagi said, before deciding to address something, "So I take it, Yukiko doesn't know about your relationship." Both teens froze at the correct assumption, earning a frown from the woman, "I see. Chie-chan, I believe Yukiko has a right to know."

"B-but...," Chie stammered nervously.

"I of course, will not say anything. After all, it should be you that tells her," the woman continued ignoring the stammering girl, "And the longer you keep it from her, the more it will hurt her feelings. And then we will have a problem." That last one felt like a threat, despite the older woman smiling pleasantly. Before anything else could be said, Mrs. Amagi walked off. "Although next time, Nousku-chan, I would advice you to tell your lover to be more quiet."

"KAYAKO-SAN!" Viljam's embarrassed cry was followed by the woman laughing at the reaction as she took her leave. Viljam then closed the door and leaned against it, covering his face with his hands as he did. "...I hate her so much right now," Viljam grumbled, muffled by his hands ever so slightly.

"You and me both," Chie said in equal, if not greater embarrassment.

"...And Yukiko had to grow up with that," Viljam then commented able to gather his rattled thoughts again.

"Yeah... So... I probably should be going now," Chie said attempting to walk past Viljam.

"What about your socks," Viljam asked intelligently. Chie had to take off her socks before the massage.

"Oh..., right," Chie said in slight embarrassment and went to pick up her socks. "...Hey..., do you think we should tell Yukiko," the green clad girl asked as she sat down on the couch to put her socks back on.

"...I don't know about 'should', but... I guess what Kayako-san said is true," Viljam replied unsurely.

"And how would we do that," Chie asked getting off the couch.

"...Let's think about it after we deal with _this,_ " Viljam said not bothering to tap at the obvious spot for the umpteenth time.

"Right... Yeah let's handle that first," Chie said as she moved across the room, "And now... could you stand aside?" The Finnish had yet to move away from the door.

"Oh, right," Viljam said quickly and got out of the way, opening the door for Chie as he did.

"See ya tomorrow," Chie said as she walked off, having a slight spring in her step thanks to Viljam's massage.

Speaking of the massage, Viljam now had to wash his hands. "See ya," Viljam responded moving out of his room to do just that. He had to be prepared for when Yukiko returns anyway.

 **(Inaba. September 12th. Early Morning)**

"How do you think it went then," Asked a tired Yosuke asked from Chie who was walking with him and Yu for a change. They had just gotten to the topic of how Viljam had done with the explanation they came up for Yukiko.

Speaking of the red clad girl, Chie wasn't sure if she wanted to run into Yukiko today. Especially considering how everything depends on how good of a liar Viljam is. At least Yukiko's mom seemed to buy it. "I hope it went well," Chie said in worry. She could've called Viljam last night to ask how it went, _if_ he had done it, but sadly she was too scared to do that. Poor Chie was afraid that Yukiko wouldn't believe it.

"You just need to have a little faith. I'm sure Viljam will come through," Yu said reassuredly. Even though he had no idea how Viljam would do.

"...I guess," Chie said, worry evident on her face, "I just fear Yukiko will hate me if this fails."

Yosuke scoffed at that comment, "Oh come on. You and Amagi have been friends for years, do you seriously believe she'll hate you that easily?"

Chie was about ready to kick Yosuke, but then the words fully registered in her brain. "...Did you just say something supportive?"

To her surprise, Yosuke just rolled his eyes, "I can be supportive, you know."

"Suuuure," Chie drawled, clearly not believing him.

Yosuke did not like the tone. "Hey! It's not my fault your boyfriend became careless!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Chie shouted as she glared dangerously at Yosuke.

"You could've fooled me," Yosuke retorted with a smirk, "Considering how you loved his hands on your body."

Yu turned away from this fight in the making to look behind to see if Yukiko and Viljam were coming yet. "Ahh. Amagi-san, Viljam. Good morning," Yu greeted the two who just arrived, snapping Chie and Yosuke out of it. Just in time before the green clad girl could deliver a critical hit in the nads on Yosuke too.

"Good morning," Yukiko greeted politely.

"Morning," Viljam said unusually tensely.

However, before Yu could question it, Yukiko had moved towards Chie. "...Chie... I... ummm... Did it really happen," the black haired girl asked while shuffling in place.

"...Yeah. It did," Chie said, knowing what Yukiko was asking.

"Oh no," Yukiko muttered in horror as she visibly slumped with a dark cloud hanging over her.

"Yukiko?" Now Chie was worried. Why did Yukiko react like that?

"I told her the truth," Viljam said as he braced himself for the inevitable.

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Rightfully so, if the look of shocked betrayal in Chie's eyes was any indication. "That wasn't the plan!"

"I know, but... I thought that if Yukiko found out some other way, she might not be happy," Viljam said probably regretting that decision right now.

Chie started stomping towards Viljam, only for the girl's shoulder to be grabbed by Yukiko. "Chie, it's fine," Yukiko said in an attempt to pacify her best friend. Before her gaze hardened, "Or were you planning to lie to me about this for my whole life?"

That made Chie forget Viljam and focus on the subtle threat looming about. "That's... I... I'm sorry," Chie managed to say, unable to come up with an excuse.

"It's okay, Chie. You were just worried about me," Yukiko said with a friendly smile, before she had a look of worry, "Ummm... Did I... do anything else..."

That brought a look of alarm for Chie. "No! No,no no, no, no! Nothing else happened." Chie did not need Yukiko imagining anything worse than what happened thank you very much.

As this happened, Yosuke leaned into Yu's ear. "Is she telling the truth," the Junes boy whispered.

Yu responded with a subtle nod. Of course, he was a little busy back then when Rise tried to have her wicked way with him, so he might not have caught everything. The silver haired boy idly wondered how Rise would react if she heard about her actions. " _She would either be happy or... probably mortified... Yeah, mortified sounds more likely,_ " Yu thought in his head. Well, hopefully the auburn haired girl will never find out.

 **(Yasogami High. September 12th. Lunch hour)**

All of investigation team was gathered at the roof to adress a certain problem that appeared during the day.

"Seriously," Yosuke griped, "What part of 'don't come to school' doesn't make sense to you?"

"Because it's not fair," protested Teddie, who had gotten the bright idea of coming to school. Earlier in the day one of the teachers found Teddie loitering around. Looking inside the classrooms, and any place he found interesting. At least he wasn't in his costume. Still, when the gang found out, they managed to play the blonde boy off as Yosuke's distant cousin, who wanted a tour of the school. "I wanted to see what you all do here daily," the bear/boy whined.

"If people start asking too many questions, our covers might get blown," Yosuke griped.

"I think you worry too much, Yosuke," Yu said in a reassuring tone, "Teddie looks just like a normal boy, so we shouldn't worry too much."

"Uhh... But we all know how he asks about every little thing. One wrong word and he might get arrested," Kanji supplied helpfully.

"...Is no one going to ask how he got back," Viljam asked, finding that more pressing right now. After all, last he heard, Teddie was abandoned with no way home.

"Is that really what you should be asking right now," Rise asked with a sweat drop, before she looked thoughtful, "...Although... Now that you asked, I am curious."

"It was horrible," Teddie said melodramatically, "I had to pretend to be someone's luggage. Then I was discovered and got thrown out on the next station. Then I had to sneak into several other trains, getting tossed out every time. Until finally, I had to walk all the way home within the inch of my life." All the while melodramatic tears flowed down his face.

"...He's kidding right," Chie asked, looking at Yosuke. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if Teddie was telling the truth or not. But hopefully this is just Teddie's idea of melodrama.

"*sigh* Sadly he's not. At least about being at the inch of his life part," Yosuke said with his shoulders slumped, "When he arrived at our doorstep, he looked almost dead." Yosuke said in remorse.

Then Teddie instantly brightened up," But then Yosuke's mom gave me her wondorous cooking and brought me back to life!". The happiness that the bear/boy radiated helped easing everyone's growing guilt. Though not by much.

"Well, welcome back I guess," Kanji said awkwardly, "Is there anything you'd like right now?" The punk must've felt that they needed to make it up to the bear.

"Just one thing," Teddie said, instantly getting in front of Viljam's face. Said boy inching away in discomfort. "Nouskuttaja, please. You have to tell me how you scored with Yuki-chan," Teddie practically begged on his knees.

"Wh-WHAT!?" Cried out Rise, looking between shocked Viljam and Yukiko, the latter of the two covering her face with her hands.

"Teddie! I did NOT score with Yukiko," Viljam shouted at the bear. The poor guy had hoped that the bear would've forgotten that by now.

"S-senpai, what is Teddie talking about," Rise asked, still looking between Viljam and Yukiko.

"It's... complicated," Viljam said weakly.

Unfortunately, it looks like Rise will NOT let it drop, "What the heck is that supposed to mean!". However, seeing as the Finnish remained tight lipped the girl turned towards Yukiko, "Yukiko-senpai, I thought you said Chie-senpai did that to him! What's going on!?"

"Hey, leave her alone!" Chie instantly came between Rise and Yukiko.

"Chie-san-" "Stay out of this," the green clad girl interrupted Viljam, before focusing on Rise again, "Can't you see she's already suffering from this?"

"I just want to know what's going on! I thought we were friends, then I hear that one of them gave a... hickey to another!"

Chie had just about enough of that, "Well... Well you were trying to have your wicked way with Narukami-kun!"

"SATONAKA-SAN!" Unfortunately, Yu's shout was useless. The damage had been done.

"WHAAAAT!?" Yosuke, Kanji and Teddie cried out in unison.

Yosuke gave his "friend" an accusing glare, "Partner... what is she talking about?"

For once Yu felt afraid of Yosuke, even though he managed to mostly hide it.

"Sensei's the man!" Teddie's cheer interrupted whatever Yu was going to say.

"It's not what you're thinking," Yu said a little too quickly.

"S-senpai." And now everyone glanced at a very scared Rise, "Wh-what is Chie-senpai talking about?"

Yu had no choice, he had to fix this situation before it got any worse, "Guys... just sit down and we'll explain." the silver haired boy said, giving a pointed look towards Chie and Viljam. The said duo resigning themselves to explain this little misunderstanding fast.

Unbeknownst to them however, the door that led to the roof was slightly opened. Now this wouldn't be a problem if moments before it wasn't closed by Kanji when they came out here. That and if the gang had been in a better position, they would've noticed a familiar blue capped head leaving after the explanation ended.

 **(Yasogami High. September 12th. After School)**

Naoto Shirogane was not happy about his situation. While the culprit has been caught, several things about this case just screams "wrong". First off, while the first two victims' cause of death is listed as "unknown", Kinshiro Morooka's death was identified as blunt force trauma. The police force chalked it up as the killer changing his methods, but Naoto wasn't convinced. They had no leads up to that point, and they had no way of identifying the target. Besides, the culprit would surely be following the investigation to some degree, perhaps through news or hear say. Whatever the case, the culprit must have at least suspected that the police haven't been able to figure out his murder method up until then, so there would've been no reason to change the method.

Then there was that case of disappearances that were irrelevant to the murders. Or that's what it would seem like. The thing is, from what Naoto has been able to piece together, the only connection the disappeared had with each other was that they go to the same school. That, and the fact that they had all appeared on TV days before they disappeared. Several possibilities are running through Naoto's head about that, but he needs proof before jumping to conclusions. He was hoping that following them on the roof after the incident with the foreign boy called Teddie would yield something, but all they talked about was some kind of drama. A drama Naoto had unfortunately witnessed first hand... Well... he was at least thankful that it wasn't what he thought it was... Still how did Yukiko and Rise become so drunk.

Shaking his head of that last irrelevant thought, Naoto finished packing his school bag and was ready to move out. He had a lot to think about. " _Why do I even bother with those idiots,_ " Naoto thought in exasperation. They seem like regular immature adolescents, yet something about them just tells him that he should keep an eye on them. And now a chuckle escaped the blue capped boy," I call them adolescents despite being one myself." Another chuckle at the slight irony.

" _Still... I suppose they weren't making fun of me. At least, not intentionally,_ " The high school detective thought as he remembered parts about the explanation on the roof, as well as the madness Rise and Yukiko spouted. " _Come to think of it, why were the rest of them so worried about something like that being said... Did they worry I would think they are crazy or perhaps...,_ " Naoto then shook his head, there's no way they could be "jumping inside TV".

* * *

 **AN: And there it is... Yeah a few things I couldn't resist doing. I mean is it strange to think Naoto would've kept an eye on the gang to some extent? No? Didn't think so. Also Yukiko's mom was onto Chie and Viljam for who knows how long.**

 **Fun fact: Viljam's little sister's words are based off reality. But like Viljam, I never took it seriously.**

 **See you guys next time.**


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

 **AN:...I struggled with this chapter more than I should've. I kept feeling that there was something missing. Then I took a look at the word count and realized that I've done enough. At least for this one.**

* * *

 **(Inaba. September 13th. Early morning)**

Yu had been walking towards the school deep in thought. What was he thinking about? Naoto Shirogane. Specifically, his latest stunt. Yesterday evening, Yu and Nanako were watching TV and they came across a show that Naoto starred in. Naoto was giving his own statement about the case. Oddly enough, Naoto didn't go into specifics, but he said that things about this case were fishy. Yu wasn't sure if he was thinking this, because Naoto was on TV, or because of what the detective said.

"Yo!" Was the holler that interrupted the silver haired boy's train of thought. Yu turned around to see most of the gang walk towards him. Only Kanji and Teddie were missing.

"Did you see that show last night," Chie instantly asked, "The one that Naoto-kun was on."

"Yeah, I did," Yu responded simply, "Do any of you find anything... odd about it. Naoto-kun doing that, I mean?"

Yosuke looked a little confused, "Odd? Like the fact that he and the police were credited for catching the murderer? We're the ones who did it."

"But the police were the ones who identified the suspect and Naoto-kun was cooperating with them on it, right," Yukiko pointed out intelligently.

"Yup. Meaning it's technically true," Viljam finished for Yukiko. "Besides, if we did get credit, that would raise too many questions and problems. The least of which is people wanting to dissect us to figure out how our powers work," the Finnish decided to add.

And everyone got various levels of scary thoughts from that.

"Do you have to scare us," Rise complained in indignation.

"A-anyways," Chie stammered in an attempt to NOT delve into something that scary," I didn't think Naoto-kun was the type to go after spotlight like that."

"Good morning." Speak of the devil. Naoto approached them from the direction they were headed to. "I've been waiting for you all," the high school detective said as he glanced at everyone present.

"Where's your school uniform," Yosuke asked in confusion. Indeed, Naoto was wearing a blue button up shirt with a yellow tie, instead of the white uniform shirt.

Instead of answering Naoto decided to make a request, "I would like to discuss somethings about the case, if you don't mind."

Yu raised an eyebrow, "Ask away, but I don't know how we could help."

"All you have to do is indulge my theory on the matter," Naoto said politely.

Yu glanced around at his friends before answering, "I'm sure we can do that."

Naoto took that as his que to start talking, " First, about the commonalities between the victims. All of them had been shown on media recently, making them suddenly, 'well known'. Shortly after, the victims were kidnapped before being killed. Haven't you come to the same conclusion?"

That last question made the gang, minus Yu, tense. "What if we have," Yu asked, crossing his arms lazily, earning exclamation marks from the rest of the gang.

"Will you admit, that a number of you would fit that criteria," Naoto then asked, causing double exclamation marks for everyone. "There was a long interval between the second and third murder. But after applying the aforementioned criteria, I discovered similar disappearances have taken place." After the last part, Naoto gave a scrutinizing look to certain people that were present, "Yukiko Amagi, Viljam Nousku, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa. All of you disappeared shortly after being seen on TV. Either you escaped death somehow, or you faked your disappearances to divert attention from yourselves. There was a point where I suspected one of you to be the culprit. After all, some of you had ties to the victims."

"You can't be serious," Chie exclaimed in anger, "You seriously think one of us is the killer!?"

"Chie-san, he used past-tense," Viljam of all people pointed out.

As the green clad girl calmed somewhat, Yu decided to confirm the implication, "You said 'suspected'. Does that mean you don't anymore?"

"Precisely. That theory is long discarded," Naoto said with a faint smile, "In fact, putting everything I have learned until this moment, I believe exactly the opposite. You are not the culprits. In fact, you might be the only ones with the means to pursue the true perpetrator. Seeing this as joining of the rescued, everything falls into place."

"An interesting theory you have there, Naoto-kun," Yu said with his usual calmness, even though he was nervous on the inside.

Naoto chuckled, "True. It is only a speculation." Then the detective donned a serious expression, "There is a flaw in my theory though. It doesn't account Kinshiro Morooka's murder. First he was never broadcasted on TV, nor did he disappear. There is also a matter of his corpse." At the mention of the corpse, Yu, Yosuke and Viljam perked up. "While the first two victims' cause of death is registered as 'unknown' Kinshiro Morooka's was easily identified as blunt force trauma to the occipital cranium."

"Sorry, where," Viljam asked suddenly, being unfamiliar with the term.

Yukiko was the first to figure out what the Finnish meant, " Morooka-sensei was hit to the back of the head." Not a text book answer, but nothing more complicated was needed.

"Oh, of course." And Viljam felt stupid once again.

Naoto cleared his throat to regain everyone's attention. "The police have not satisfactorily resolved this discrepancy, yet they are desperate to close the case. Further action will be required to find decisive evidence."

"Further action," Chie sounded out.

Yu was also curious, "What exactly does that mean?"

Naoto gave a small smile at the question, "Well... whatever the outcome, the truth should come to light... You did say something interesting to me a while ago." At the last sentence, Naoto glanced at Rise and Yukiko, who looked back in confusion. Then the high school detective started walking away.

"Where are you going? The school's that way," Yosuke pointed out, seeing as Naoto was walking to the direction they came from.

That made Naoto stop for a moment. "This isn't a game for me either," Naoto said, before going on his way.

"What's his deal? Is he skipping school," Yosuke wondered in slight jealousy.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt he's doing that on a whim," Yu commented, looking thoughtfully at the retreating boy.

"And he said 'further action', what does that mean," Rise repeated Chie's earlier question.

"Maybe he thinks there's something that needs to be done," Viljam said, earning everyone's attention, "Or... that's what I understand." The last one was said unsurely.

"You might be right about that actually," Yu said before letting out a sigh," What concerns me, is what that 'something' is. Come to think of it, have any of you checked the forecast lately?"

"Why do you ask," Chie asked in curiosity.

"Oh! I think the forecast promised rain for tomorrow. Why do you ask," Yukiko answered before Yu could get a word in.

The silver haired boy had a grim look."Because in that case I'm going to watch the Midnight Channel tomorrow night," the silver haired boy replied, "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think I should watch it. If only to confirm that there's nothing to worry about."

Yosuke had a worried look. "Partner... when you put it that way, I guess we should check it," the Junes boy saidm before having a carefree look, "But I doubt we're gonna see anything anymore."

"Yeah. We can all check it," Chie said cheerfully.

"Guys, I said _I_ will watch it. You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Yu said, not wanting to waste everyone else's time in the event he was wrong.

Viljam let out a snort, "Jujuttaja, I think I speak for all of us when I say that this is important enough activity."

Yu had a blank expression."...Yuyuttaya? ***** "

"It roughly means... well... I guess the closest word I can think of is 'duper'," Viljam explained with some difficulty.

It took a few seconds to register in everyone's head, but Yukiko burst into laughter as she got the joke. Yosuke and Chie snickered shamelessly, and Rise covered her mouth in a poor attempt to hide her laughter.

"Very funny," Yu said while smiling and rolling his eyes. The silver haired boy had to admit, it was a little funny despite him being the punch line.

"Was it really that funny?" And Viljam's innocent question made everyone laugh harder.

 **(Yasogami High. September 13th. Morning)**

It was once again time for Kashiwagi's lecture's. Well... the woman's lecture's are preferable to King Moron's, but... she tends to go off topic. The said off topic being how she is beautiful and how boys shouldn't waste their time on their inexperienced female class mates. This earned the ire of approximately 90 percent of the female population. The remaining ten being those few who don't take Kashiwagi seriously in that regard. Once again, Viljam managed to shut the teacher up and get her back on track.

Unfortunately, the said teacher had to say something horrible, "At least someone understands the charms of mature women." Even though that wasn't even remotely close to what the resident Finnish said. The sultry look the woman sent him didn't help either.

"Now, how about-" Kashiwagi was interrupted by the bell. "Oh. I guess our time together is over. Everyone, please follow Nousku-kun's example." Then the woman left the classroom.

As soon as the teacher had left, Viljam's face impacted his desk. "Someone, kill me," Viljam said sounding very depressed.

Chie turned around in her seat and patted Viljam's head. "It's okay Nousku-kun, you saved us from Kashiwagi's rant. You're a hero," the green clad girl said in an attempt to cheer him up.

"...I just feel like I lured the predator towards myself," Viljam grumbled, but raised himself from the desk anyway.

Yu shook his head at Viljam's misery. On one hand, the silver haired boy is grateful for the Finnish intervention. But on the other hand... "You might want to stop before she starts thinking you have a thing for her." Sad thing is, even Yu didn't know if he was joking.

Viljam responded by staring blankly at the silver haired boy. "...Syöksy sementtiin **(Dive into cement)**."

"What?" Yu raised an eyebrow at the Finnish sentence.

"Nothing," Viljam said, as he turned away with a frown.

 **(Yasogami High. September 13th. Lunch hour)**

"Seriously, if you used charm like that on girls you could get any one of them," Yosuke half joked about Viljam accidentally charming Kashiwagi.

"...I don't know if I should feel flattered or insulted," Viljam said dryly as he plucked some rice from his lunch box into his mouth. The Finnish has really developed a taste for it. Then again, Viljam has said that compared to the rice he had tried back home, this is candy.

Yu chuckled at the response, "That depends on why you would feel insulted."

"Because Yosuke makes it sound like I could _use_ any girl," was the easy response, "And for the record: Flattered, because he thinks I'm capable of that." With that, Viljam returned to his food.

Yosuke had a shit eating grin."Oh come on, you seemed plenty capable charming Kash-YEOW!" The Junes boy's comment was cut off by Viljam twisting the nose.

"Hana. Umpeen **(Faucet. Plug)** ," Viljam said sternly. No one needed a translation to know what he meant.

"My nose is not a faucet, dammit," Yosuke complained as he stroked his abused nose.

"Sadly I'm not sure how to drop you down the stairs and make it look like an accident, so I have to make do with shutting your faucet," Viljam said a little too seriously for Yosuke's liking.

"For the last time, MY NOSE IS NOT A FAUCET!" But it didn't stop the Junes boy from voicing his complaints.

"C-can we change the subject," asked Kanji who had been with them the whole time. Also he started feeling uncomfortable about the direction this conversation was going.

"What would you suggest," Yu asked the punk, also eager to change the subject... And to save Yosuke.

"Th-that's... ummm," Kanji had no idea what to talk about.

Then Viljam had a light bulb go off in his head, "Hey Kanji. You know how to make stuffed animals right?"

Kanji instantly perked up at the topic he was well versed in, "Well, yeah. Though that depends on the materials, like cloth, sewing kit and the stuffing."

Viljam had a triumphant smile, "So if I asked you to make a stuffed bear, would you be able to make it?"

Yosuke also perked up. "What's this? Do you want something to cuddle at night," the Junes boy snickered.

"It's not for me taukki **(dummy),** " Viljam said with an annoyed look, "My little sister's birthday is coming up soon. I think something made here would be nice."

"Isn't she too old for stuff like that though," Yu pointed out, "I mean, she would be first year in high school, right?"

Viljam gave another annoyed look at Yu, "First, you're never too old to love cute things. Second..." Viljam trailed off with a thoughtful look, "Actually, now that you mention it, I don't think she would replace Karvis."

"Karuvis/Karvis/ Karubis?" Was the universal question with varying levels of mispronounciation.

"Karvis-nalle **(Fuzzy-bear)**. Linnea's stuffed bear," Viljam explained like it wasn't a big deal.

Which it wasn't, judging by the look of realization on everyone's face.

Then Yosuke looked like he had a brilliant idea, "Why not give her a yukata?"

Viljam did not agree with the sentiment, "I don't know what kind she would like, if at all."

"That's true," Yu shrugged, "And there's a chance that whatever you get her doesn't go with her measurements."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure whatever I would pick would either be too big or too small," The Finnish sighed.

"Sayyyy," Yosuke drawled with a sly look,"How hot is Linnea-chan?" The Junes boy asked with more than idle curiosity. After all, he was one of the members that hadn't had any kind of visual of the Nousku sisters yet. The inquiry of course earned an uncomfortable look from Kanji, and a face-palm from Yu.

Viljam himself had a blank stare at the less than innocent question,"...I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that."

 **(With Chie, Yukiko and Rise. Roughly the same time)**

"For the last time: That's none of your business," Chie nearly shouted with a red face, "Please, just drop it already." The desperation was evident on the poor girl.

At those words, Rise backed off from teasing," I'm sorry, Chie-senpai. I didn't mean to be a bully."

"C-can we change the subject," Yukiko asked in discomfort. Earlier, Yukiko had dragged Chie for a private conversation. What was it about? Yukiko had asked if Chie liked Viljam. At first Chie tried to play it off as being ridiculous, but then Yukiko told about the last part of the night Viljam revealed the origin of his now non-existent hickey. Viljam had asked if it would be so horrible if he dated Chie. The green clad girl was frightened, and it was at that moment she wanted to sentence Viljam to hundred kicks in the face next time she saw him. Thankfully, Yukiko told Chie that it would be okay if she did date Viljam.

And then Rise happened to arrive to hear that last part, making her curious about what was going on. Then it seemed like Rise was subtly trying to tell Yukiko that Chie and Viljam were already dating.

"Uhhh... well... What did Naoto-kun mean by further action," Chie brought up, hoping that this would be a topic that could last.

Yukiko instantly latched on the life line that the question turned into, "...I don't know." Except she couldn't come up with a follow up for that.

"I just don't understand what he's trying to prove," Rise piped up, "I mean, sure, the police identified the murderer with the new murder method, but that was because he couldn't kill Morooka-sensei with the TV, right?" The auburn haired girl might've realized that she was derailed, if she wasn't so curious about Naoto's reasoning.

"That's right," Yukiko confirmed, before continuing, "But Morooka-sensei never appeared on the TV either... Come to think of it, why didn't Mitsuo wait until someone was shown on the TV again?"

"Maybe he couldn't wait anymore for someone to die," Chie said in disgust, "Honestly, I just want to forget, that the guy even existed."

That remark earned a look of concern from Yukiko, "Do you mean, Morooka-sensei or Mitsuo?"

"...I don't know," Chie said, feeling a wave of shame and guilt for admitting that. She liked the teacher as much as the next student, but she still didn't wish him to die.

 **(Inaba. September 13th. After School)**

Yosuke had dragged Yu into Junes food court for a private talk... Well... It would've been private if Teddie hadn't wormed his way into it. What was the talk about? Well, yesterday Yosuke had a shift at Junes, so he couldn't really talk about it in detail, but now...

"Seriously dude, do you know how many guys would kill you for being in that situation," Yosuke questioned.

The silver haired boy let out a tired sigh," Yosuke, I want to forget it even happened. Thank you very much."

That earned a disbelieving look from the Junes boy, " Seriously? You had a perfect opportunity, and you ran away?"

Now Yu glared at his friend, "You sound like I should've taken advantage of a girl that wasn't in her right MIND!"

Yosuke flinched at the shout, then he realized how he indeed made it sound like that. "Okay fine, you're right, sorry." At least the Junes boy had the decency to be ashamed of his words. "But seriously, Rise-chan is all over you. Why aren't you doing anything about it," Yosuke then asked sounding serious.

Yu looked hesitant, before answering,"It's just... I don't understand why me."

"What do you mean Sensei," Teddie, who was in his costume this time, asked.

Yu gave a sigh at the innocent question. "It's... I don't know, she didn't seem interested in me the first few times we met, and now... She's acting like I'm the love of her life. That's kind of sudden," the silver haired boy explained.

"...Sorry, but I don't see the problem here," Yosuke said, not understanding what the problem here was.

"Can people really change their opinion of others so easily? And what did I even do to make her like me!" Yu started to sound frustrated.

"Because you saved her Sensei," Teddie answered easily.

"It wasn't just me," Yu protested, "More importantly, Teddie, you were the one who finally beat her shadow." The silver haired boy then turned his gray gaze at Yosuke. "The problem is... Never mind." Yu shook his head, not wanting to reveal his worries.

Yosuke frowned at that. "Hey, you've been helping me whenever I asked, the least I can do is do the same. So don't bottle it up," the Junes boy said trying to sound cheerful.

Yu looked hesitantly at Yosuke, then Teddie. "...Teddie, could you get us some drinks," Yu asked, fishing some money out of his wallet for the bear.

"Okay, Sensei," Teddie said with a salute and went to do just that.

With Teddie gone, Yu turned towards Yosuke, "Inaba isn't the first time I had to move somewhere else."

"Oh..." Yosuke mouthed in surprise. "Soooo... what does that mean?"

Yu sighed a little. "I've moved around to so many places that I've given up on interacting with people. After all, I would just leave them. And now, here in Inaba, this happens."

Yosuke wasn't entirely sure what Yu meant, but he made a guess. "The cases? Well... yeah, I wouldn't have thought I'd get friends _that_ way either." the Junes boy tried to sound humorous to lighten the mood.

Judging by the chuckle that came out of Yu, it worked. "Yeah... Anyway, before Inaba, I've had a few crushes. But since I would move away eventually, I figured it would be pointless to try. But now... I think I might be willing to try, but..."

After few seconds of processing, Yosuke realized what Yu meant. "Since you're gonna go back to Tokyo in spring, you're wondering if it's worth it," the Junes boy summarized, earning a nod from Yu. "Dude, you're an idiot," Yosuke dead-panned.

"What?"

"With that logic, becoming friends with me and the others is a waste of time," Yosuke explained seriously, "I mean... I know that Saki-senpai never really liked me, but... I still wouldn't want to change anything. I know it doesn't make sense, but the point is, should you say it's pointless if you don't even try?"

Yu's eyes widened at Yosuke's words. Then the silver haired boy burst into laughter.

Yosuke did not like that, "HEY! I'm being serious for once!"

"Sorry *ahhaha*. It's not you I'm laughing at," Yu explained through his laughter.

"Then what's so funny," Yosuke asked in annoyance. He just poured his heart out and this guy dares to laugh at it? How dare he laugh like it was a joke!

"...It's... Actually, no. It's not my place to say," Yu said half-truthfully.

"Hey! You can't leave me hanging after saying something like that," Yosuke complained.

At that moment, Teddie decided to show up again." Sorry for taking so long, Sensei." The bear said as he handed over Yu's and Yosuke's drinks.

"It's okay Teddie," Yu responded as he took his drink, "You came at a perfect time." And with that Yu took a sip.

It was at that moment Yosuke realized that this conversation was over. So with a grumble, the Junes boy decided to drown his annoyance with a big gulp of his drink.

Yu felt a little guilty about leaving the conversation at that, but the silver haired boy wasn't sure if he could live with Yosuke mocking him about not living how he preaches. After all, Yu had said something similar to Viljam not too long ago. Still, the silver haired boy had a lot to think about now.

 **(Souzai Daigaku. September 13th. After School)**

"You're lucky I don't want to hurt you," Chie grumbled angrily as she bit down on a steak skewer.

Viljam looked a little downed from the girl's anger. "I said I'm sorry. I just asked Yukiko if it would be so horrible if we were dating," the Finnish boy apologized for the umpteenth time.

That earned a sigh from the green clad girl, "Alright fine... I guess it's fine... But how did Yukiko come to that conclusion?"

Viljam perked up at the question, "What conclusion?"

Chie was momentarily surprised at the question, "What? Didn't Yukiko tell you it would be okay?" She was so sure that Viljam would've wanted an answer immediately.

"No. I didn't feel like rushing her. And she's okay with it," Viljam asked, wanting to be sure he heard right.

That earned a smile from Chie. "Yeah, she said it would be okay. As long as I stayed her friend," the girl said, chuckling at the last part, "As if I would stop being Yukiko's friend just because I'm d-dating." Despite herself, Chie couldn't help the slight red rising to her cheeks.

"You're still not used to it," Viljam stated with a smile, earning a light glare from the girl. "...If it makes you feel better... I always thought I would die without dating." At the last one Viljam looked down in embarrrasment.

That made Chie blink a little. "...That's... kinda depressing," was all Chie said, even though there have been times she had thought that too.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Viljam instantly apologized. Then the Finnish boy snickered at something.

"What's funny," Chie asked, already guessing it was a random thought.

Viljam opened his mouth to respond, before hesitantly shutting up. "...I'm not sure you want to know," the Finnish boy was able to say nervously.

That answer was not the one Chie wanted. "Okay, now you got me curious," the green clad girl said with a questioning stare.

"Please don't make me talk. Maria will kill me if she ever finds out," Viljam pleaded.

"Your big sis isn't here. And who would ever tell her about this conversation," Chie tried to reason. She doesn't really know much about Viljam's sisters beyond the few times he has mentioned her. So she got curious at a possible embarrassing story about the older one, or at least Viljam makes it sound like it's something embarrassing "Unless you report what you do to your family everything you...do..." Chie trailed off as a certain thought occurred from that statement, " _Did he tell his family we're dating!?_ "

However, Viljam was oblivious to that part and let out a sigh. "I just... remembered the day I realized what Maria dating would entail... the hard way."

That snapped Chie back into focus, one the older one was already dating... actually, she looked to be in her twenties so it should probably be expected. But then she got almost worried about the part Viljam hesitated to say, "What do you mean by, 'the hard way'?" Viljam's nervous look only made Chie more worried. "Did you catch her kissing with her boyfriend," Chie asked with a red face and wide

Viljam chuckled nervously, "...I wish... At least they were done... I think."

"Done with wh- No way!" Chie cried out as it dawned to her. Viljam's nod only solidified her assumption. Chie was torn between consoling Viljam at seeing his sister in that situation, or laughing her head off as she imagined the look on his face at the time. In the end, she chose to do the latter.

Surprisingly Viljam was laughing with her. "It didn't even cross my mind what they might be doing when mom told me to get them," Viljam said through his laughter.

"WHAT!? Your mom was in the house!?" Chie couldn't fathom what the two could've been doing something like that when the Nousku matriarch was in the house. Chie imagined the situation to be something like Viljam coming home to an empty house and hearing weird noises or something.

"Yeah... And I still can't believe that I still wasn't even surprised when I opened the door to Maria's room... Or maybe I was surprised, but not traumatized or even shocked," Viljam added in, "Weird, right?"

"...I guess," Chie said unsurely. Honestly, since she's an only child, Chie has no idea what it would be like to see a sibling in that kind of situation... Except if she thought that of Yukiko... NOPE! Not thinking that.

Viljam laughed again before remembering something else," Oh, fun fact: Since Maria moved away, her room became mine."

That made Chie drop her jaw. Not the fact that Maria's room back in Finland was given to Viljam, but rather, "..A-are you saying that... you now sleep in the same bed wh-where-" "NO! No, no, no, NO! Maria's bed was replaced with mine! Actually... Oh, crap! Why did you have to make me think that," Viljam interrupted frantically, realizing that the room he now had back home was also the room where the... incident happened.

"Ehhehe...Sorry," Chie said awkwardly as she watched..., "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!?" And then she had to stop Viljam's desperate attempt of gouging his eyes out.

* * *

 **AN: You guys have no idea how much fun I had writing the last part. But as I said, I felt like there was something missing until I took a look at the word count. I like to write with a certain minimum in mind. With this, I've more than gone past that minimum. I don't really have a maximum word count per chapter in mind, but I'd like to keep the chapters...readable length(If that makes sense).**

 ***To those who don't know, the word Jujuttaja is pronounced Yuyuttaya(from English perspective anyway)**

 **Well... see you guys next time**


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

 **AN: Whelp, here it is finally. Let's see if I can focus enough to get the next one done**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. September 14. After School)**

The School has ended, but the investigation team has yet to leave the class. That includes Kanji and Rise, who had come to the second year classroom.

"It's still raining," Chie commented at the sight beyond the windows.

Viljam looked a little tired for some reason as he lifted his head to adress everyone. "And the forecast still said it's gonna rain through the night," the Finnish added in.

"So all we have to do is wait until midnight," Yu finished for everyone, before glancing at everyone, "I know what you all said yesterday, but I'll say it again: You guys don't have to stay up if you don't want to."

Yosuke shook his head,"Yu, we already said we would. Unless of course, one of you changed their minds." The last one was directed at the other members in the room.

"Heck no! I'm gonna watch it," Chie said, sounding fired up.

Yukiko giggled at her best friend's enthusiasm, "Besides, wouldn't it be better to have more than one set of eyes to watch it?"

Viljam nodded in agreement, before adding his own two cents, "I can't back out after what I said yesterday. And even if I could I won't."

"Damn straight," Kanji added in firmly, "But what're we gonna do in the meantime?"

Chie had a huge grin at the question, "I'm going to Aiya's. And Nousku-kun is coming with me."

"Mitä( **What)**? Mik- I mean why," Viljam asked, hearing about this plan for the first time.

"Because it's rainy day, and you know what that means," Chie hinted, getting more pumped up at the idea.

It didn't take long for Viljam to realize what the tomboy meant, "Ai niin **(Oh right)**! The Mega Beef Bowl challenge! Count me in then."

"So you two have a date," Yosuke asked cheekily.

That made Chie flinch, before sending the Junes boy a death glare. "Hanamura," Chie threatened with a red face, though right now it was unclear if the color came out of anger or embarrassment

Viljam on the other hand, just gave the teaser a pitying look. "Yosuke, that's really getting old," the Finnish said, managing to sound condecending, "Are you really that desperate to get a rise out of us?" Sad thing about that question was, Viljam sounded completely serious.

This of course made Yosuke's eye twitch, before snapping, "Would you drop that 'desperate' thing already!?"

"...Ja sitten se ihmettelee **(And then it wonders)** ," Viljam sighed with an amused look. This caused others to laugh after a small delay that came from remembering what that phrase meant.

Except with Yosuke who looked annoyed, and Kanji and Rise who looked confused. "Umm... What did Nousku-senpai say," Rise asked everyone else who seemed to understand.

"He said, 'And then it wonders'. If I remember right," Yu replied glancing at Viljam for confirmation. Which came in the form of a nod and a proud look.

"It? Isn't that a little rude," Kanji asked worrying that Viljam uses that of everyone. Rise just looked curious.

"THANK YOU!" Yosuke hollered. Grateful that at least someone pointed that out.

"That's what Hanamura gets for being a jerk," Chie answered Kanji's question, before picking up her bag and moving out," Come on Nousku-kun." With that, Viljam followed suit.

"Chie, Nousku-kun! Wait for me," Yukiko called after them before following.

As the trio left, Rise blinked at the commanding tone Chie used on Viljam. "...Is it just me or is Nousku-senpai completely wrapped around Chie-senpai's finger," the teen idol asked dumbly.

"Yup," Yosuke grumbled, "If she tells him to jump, he'll ask how high. Then again, Satonaka did love-." "Yosuke," Yu interrupted having a wild guess what the Junes boy was about to say, "Do you seriously want to risk what might happen, if whatever you say gets carried to their ears?"

The said Junes boy opened his mouth to reply, but then realized that Yu has a point. "I hate it when you're right," Yosuke grumbled before taking his own bag and started walking away. "I've got a shift at Junes today, so I know how my day is spent." Was the last thing that Yosuke said, before making his exit.

"Did you have anything planned Kanji," Yu decided to ask their resident punk.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Ma needs my help at cleaning the storage room today," Kanji replied, "I should probably get going. See ya." Without waiting for a reply, Kanji too had gone.

Which left Yu and Rise. "Senpai, do you have anything to do today," the latter of the two asked.

"I planned to go and buy some groceries with Nanako today," Yu replied easily.

Rise didn't show it, but she was disappointed at that... Then again, she wasn't sure what she would do with him if he was free. After all, it was raining.

"...But you are welcome to come with us if you want," Yu then said, earning a surprised look from Rise.

"Are you sure Senpai? I mean, I wouldn't want to be a bother," the girl said, feeling like she would be intruding.

"You wouldn't be a bother. In fact, I think Nanako would be happy if you'd come," Yu said sincerely.

"Okay, Senpai," Rise replied happily, "So... When were you going to go?"

"Right now. Nanako thought it would be best if we went to Junes straight from school," the silver haired boy said as he began to move out. Rise followed suit.

 **(Aiya's. September 14th. Few minutes later)**

As of now, Viljam, Yukiko and Chie were sitting on one of Aiya's booths waiting for their orders. True to their words, the Finnish and the green clad girl were planning to take on the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge once again.

"I'm gonna get further than you this time," Chie boasted to Viljam.

The said boy had wide smile, "Sen kun näkisi **(I'd like to see that)**."

Chie's eye twitched at the near arrogant tone, "Oh it's SO ON!" Plus she didn't need a translation to recognize a taunt.

As this happened Yukiko was smiling in mild embarrassment of her guest brother's and best friend's antics. "Just don't eat too much or too fast. Otherwise you might get indigestion," the black haired girl adviced.

...Unfortunately, judging by how these two were staring at each other with fire in their eyes, the words fell on deaf ears.

"Here is your order," said the daughter of the restaurants owner as she put the bowls in front of the three. Yukiko having a regular ramen, while the other two had the Mega Beef Bowl.

"Hope you're ready to lose," Chie said with an evil grin, which earned a playful scoff from the Finnish.

"Oh, I'm prepared, all right... To beat you," Viljam retorted. With that, the two dug in as Yukiko calmly ate her own food.

 **(Junes. Roughly the same time)**

As Yu thought, Nanako was more than happy to have Rise joining them on their shopping. The three had been getting the items on the shopping list Yu and Nanako had worked on last night. All the while talking about this and that.

"Last item on the list is pickled radishes," Yu announced to Nanako who beamed at the revelation.

"Okay! I'll go get it," Nanako said as she ran off to get them.

Rise made a face at the thought of pickled vegetables, "Does Nanako-chan like them? Pickled vegetables I mean."

Yu looked momentarily confused before chuckling, "Not to my knowledge, but uncle Dojima loves them."

"Oh... So that's why," Rise said thoughtfully. "He must be a great dad if Nanako-chan goes this far for him," the teen said with a smile.

"...Yeah, he is. _At least now,_ " Yu said, keeping the last one in his head. Dojima had been so many times out of home for a night, that Nanako thought he hated her. Thankfully Yu was able to fix that, although the only reason he tried to do that was because he didn't want Nanako to go through what he had. Now... Dojima is still busy, but it seems like Nanako had become much higher in his priorities. "...Do you remember what we talked about at the shrine, during the summer festival," Yu asked Rise in thought.

"Hm?... Yes... you said you didn't believe in making wishes," Rise said feeling slight worry about the direction this was taking.

Yu took a deep breath,"...There was a time when I made one wish that never came true... Until I transfered here to Inaba."

"What was it," Rise asked, getting curious about it. That curiosity was drowned when he noticed that Yu looked a little sad. "Y-you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," the auburn haired girl quickly tried to rectify her mistake.

"No, no. It's fine... I already brought it up," Yu said almost regretting that choice now, "I... I wished that my family cared."

That made Rise's eyes widen in alarm. "Wh-what? What do you mean?" the auburn haired girl didn't expect something like that.

"...It's just... My parents were always busy with their job that they didn't have time for me... Or so i thought," Yu said with a sigh,"I didn't realize how little they cared until they forgot my birthday."

Rise felt her heart constrict at that admission. Her own parents at least called her when they couldn't wish her happy birthday in person. "Didn't they... at least remember later," Rise asked, hoping that it wouldn't be so.

"...No... And the few times they did... Well they were less than interested," Yu said with a depressed sigh. Then the silver haired boy lightened up considerably, "But here... Well..., uncle Dojima isn't what I would call a caring- no, doting parent, but he still asks me and Nanako how our day went. And considering my parents... that's a huge improvement."

" _...All this time. Senpai has kept something like this to himself,_ " Rise couldn't help but think.

"I'm sorry," Yu said suddenly, confusing Rise.

"For what?"

"For bothering you with this," Yu said, looking ashamed of himself, " _Why did I even tell her this?_ "

"N-no! Senpai it's okay," Rise said frantically, "I'm just... surprised. I mean, you're always so nice that I never thought..." Rise wasn't sure why, but she couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.

Yu was about to apologize again for burdening Rise with something that has nothing to do with her, when... "Found them, Big bro!" Nanako said happily as she brought a jar of pickled radishes that her dad likes. Unfortunately Nanako was perceptive about certain things, which was proven when she frowned after one look at Yu and Rise. "Are you two fighting," Nanako asked in worry.

Cue two pairs of eyes widening in surprise. "No/Of course not!" The two exclaimed in unison, which caused them to glance at each other. Which was followed by the two laughing at themselves for a moment.

After calming down, Yu was able to clear things up, "No, Nanako. We're not fighting, I just said something stupid."

"It wasn't stupid," Rise retorted with a smile... Which soon evolved into an evil grin," Your big bro is just jealous of you."

Which earned a panicked look from Yu, and a confused look from Nanako. "Why would big bro be jealous of me," Nanako asked with usual child-like curiosity.

"For being you," Rise said with a smile, which only confused Nanako more.

"Don't listen to her, she's just trying to mess with me," Yu told Nanako, before fixing a mock glare at the teen idol. The said idol just smiled happily in response. "Anyway, with that...," Yu said as he took the jar and placed it in the shopping basket, "... we have all the groceries we need."

"Okay," Nanako said, still confused about the situation. "Let's go home." But she didn't dwell on it, evidenced by the radiating happiness coming out of her.

 **(Aiya's. Few minutes later)**

"Ughh... I... I can still go on," Chie said, trying to move her chopsticks, but the mega bowl had already filled her to the brim... Although she was sure she had made more progress than Viljam.

"...Saamari...Ei jaksa **(Darn Can't go on)** ," Viljam grumbled, also at his limits.

As this was happening, Yukiko looked on in worry. Both of them had finished more than half of their bowl. Anymore and everything they ate might come back up. "...I think you two should stop now," Yukiko said carefully.

Unfortunately, that remark didn't help at all. It was like throwing more wood at the waning fire. Evidenced by the fact that the two seemed to get renewed.

"I won't lose," Chie said, managing to get the still somehow warm food into her maw. " _I can still do this._ " The girl thought with newfound resolve.

"Niinhän neiti luulee **(That's what the lady thinks)** ," Viljam said opening his own maw, " _Luukku auki ja ääntä kohti, niin kuin sanotaan_ **(Hatch open and towards the voice/sound, as they say).** " The Finnish wanted to live up to the title of "Hungerer" his big sister gave him. Although it was given as more of a mock than a compliment.

" _Should I call an ambulance,_ " Yukiko thought in worry. It would take a moment for help to arrive, so if she made the call now, they might make it to the scene just in time when something went wrong. That was of course assuming any ambulance was free at the moment. And on the off chance that these two would be sensible...

"...Can we just agree on a tie," Chie said pleadingly, interrupting Yukiko's train of thought.

"...I want to say no..., but... I don't think I can swallow any more than this," Viljam said, having his words emphasized by his cheeks that were slightly puffed from the hamster said cheeks were slowly shrinking with every second. Then with a final gulp his mouth was completely empty, "So yes... let's go with a tie." The Finnish agreed to this mostly because he didn't want to risk exploding... And because he was afraid of Chie trying to go on if it turned out he had eaten more. Honestly, he didn't even care anymore who won, he just wanted this food torture to end.

" _...Looks like I won't have to call an ambulance after all,_ " Yukiko thought, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Au! Auauauauuau," Viljam then sounded out in pain, before relaxing in his seat again.

"What? What!?" Chie exclaimed in concern, with Yukiko looking equally worried.

"Sorry... It's nothing," Viljam said as he inched towards the wall next to his seat to lean on it.

"Then why did you sound like you were in pain," Yukiko asked, not buying Viljam's nonsense.

"...That's... I just... Look it's nothing important," Viljam said, trying to sound reassuring. Even though he looked highly embarrassed.

Chie looked a little skeptical at the answer. However, she realized something. Right before the Finnish stopped whimpering in pain, Chie could swear he was fumbling with something. "...Did you open your belt?" That question was immediately followed by a furious blush from Viljam. Which was all the answer Chie needed.

"Oh." Was Yukiko's intelligent comment.

"C-can we talk about something else, please," Viljam pleaded.

Chie had an evil grin, "Okay. But you have to pay for our meals too." the green clad girl seriously thought that Viljam would agree to it.

"En tasan **(Absolutely not)** ," Viljam said in annoyance, refusing to be extorted.

Chie had a pretty good guess what he was saying from his expression."Ok, ok. No need to get touchy," Chie said,putting her hands in defense to emphasize her words.

Yukiko let out a giggle at the situation. "Is this what your dates are like," the red clad girl asked, causing her friend and guest brother to snap their heads towards her with gaping looks. The two opened their mouths to protest... "BEFORE you two deny it, I already realized it yesterday...," Yukiko said, stopping them from protesting. Though she did have a somber look after silencing them," Actually, maybe I already knew before then... I just... didn't want it to be true."

Chie and Viljam gave each other a sad look. "We're sorry Yukiko," Viljam said, not knowing what else to say.

"Sorry," Chie aplogized too, "...Do you hate us now."

Yukiko smiled fondly at her best friend, "Of course not, Chie. I already said it was fine. After all, you're still my best friend."

"Thanks, Yukiko," Chie said before hugging Yukiko. She couldn't help it, the green clad girl was just so happy that she hasn't lost her best friend.

"You should thank Nousku-kun. He's the one who taught me that," Yukiko said, while smiling at a confused Viljam.

"Häh? How did I... Oh, right... that," Viljam said in realization.

As this was said, Chie had released the hug. "What? Nousku-kun, what did you say to Yukiko," Chie asked out of curiosity.

However, instead of Viljam, Yukiko answered, "Nousku-kun said: No matter who Maria dates, I will still be her cute little brother." The last three words were followed by a giggle.

"Hey! I didn't say 'cute'," Viljam protested.

Yukiko looked a little confused by that statement, "Isn't that how she thinks of you?"

"...I don't even know why you would think that," Viljam said, not even bothering to try and figure it out.

"...Yukiko... how often do you talk to Nousku-kun's family," Chie asked, getting even more curious... Especially considering... Nope! Not ready to think that.

Yukiko looked thoughtful as she tried to remember, "...About every other time Nousku-kun contacts them." This earned a hum of acknowledgment from Chie. "Also, do you two feel better yet," Yukiko then asked, earning confused looks. "Are you two still too stuffed," the red clad girl clarified.

Well truthfully, the two still felt full, but during this conversation they didn't feel like bursting anymore. "Yeah... I think I can move again," Chie said, shuffling in her seat to test her theory. Viljam on the other hand, laughed. Although he was trying to suppress it... and of course, failing miserably. "What," Chie asked, even though she had a feeling she might regret it.

"It's a Finnish thing, you wouldn't *kihhih* understand," Viljam said, desperately holding his laughter.

Yukiko, of course, perked up at hearing it was a Finnish thing. "What!? What is it? Please tell me," Yukiko asked eagerly

Fortunately for Yukiko, Viljam couldn't say no to her hopeful look. "Olen liian lehmääntynyt **(I'm too cowed)** ," Viljam said, earning confused looks from the two. "It roughly translates to 'I'm too cowed'," Viljam translated.

"Uh-huh," Chie sounded out unsurely, not getting the joke here, "...What's so funny about that?"

Just as Viljam was about to reply, Yukiko burst into a laughing fit. "Cowed *ahhahha* Beef," Yukiko managed to say through her laughter.

This made Viljam perk up. "See! Yukiko gets it," Viljam said feeling very proud of Yukiko. Not to mention his own laughter restarted.

"...Riiight." Chie did not share the sentiment. But she still managed an awkward smile somehow.

Then Yukiko stopped laughing as she remembered something, "You two never answered my question!" This statement had earned Yukiko a confused look from the two. So she decided to repeat her question, "Is this what your dates are like?" Her question was rewarded by two faces, that at the moment, try to rival her cardigan's color.

"YUKIKO!" The owners of the said faces cried in unison.

 **(Dojima Household. September 14th. Evening)**

After the shopping trip, Yu, Nanako and Rise returned to the Dojima household. Rise would've left to her house already, if Nanako hadn't asked if she would like to have dinner with them.

Rise didn't know what to say to that at first, but Yu seemed to be all for it. Because of that, Rise couldn't possibly say no. Of course, she had to make a call to her grandmother to inform her of being late. Thankfully, Rise's grandmother didn't mind, so long as the girl returned by nine. When that time came, Yu walked her home.

Now though... Yu was sitting in his room, thinking about the evening as he waited for the clock to strike midnight.

" _Rise-chan was right, I didn't have to walk her home,_ " the silverhaired boy thought idly. When he first offered to walk her home, Rise said he didn't have to. However, Yu didn't feel right about letting her walk alone in the dark so he escorted her to the shopping district, and even then stayed put until the girl disappeared into her home. Only then did he return home to his uncle nodding in approval of what he did. " _But I wanted to_." the silver haired boy replayed his retort to Rise.

Aside from all of that, Rise had brought back their previous topic during the walk. Mostly just to comment that Yu's wish indeed came true in the form of his uncle and Nanako.

That train of thought was cut off when the TV came on it's own. As usual, the image was blurry and you can't tell who the person was... Except Yu could make out that the person was wearing a cap of some kind. The silver haired boy did his best to memorize what little details he could see, before the screen went off.

And when it did, he was able to think, " _...According to the pattern before Morooka's death, that person on the screen would probably be Naoto... He's probably not the only person to wear a cap though, but I'm willing to bet it's him._ " Yu's face devolved into a frown at the end of that thought. Just then his phone started ringing. "Hello, Yosuke," Yu answered the phone, guessing who it was.

Turns out he guessed right, " _Hey, did you see that?_ "

"Yeah, I did," Yu said in disappointment, "I thought we were done with this."

" _Well... yeah. But does the Midnight Channel even have anything to do with the cases? Come to think of it, what is the Midnight Channel anyway,_ " Yosuke said from his end.

Honestly, Yu had no answer to that. The Midnight Channel shows the next person that is thrown in, but _why_? Why does it even exist in the first place? That's not even counting the questions they have about the TV world. "...I wish I knew," Yu said truthfully, "...Still I think we should address this tomorrow."

" _Yeah... you might be right... Let's continue this tomorrow,_ " Yosuke said. With that, the two exchanged their farewells.

* * *

 **AN: Perhaps I could've written details about when Yu walked Rise home. Problem is, I couldn't think of anything. Anyway, the next one will probably be longer than this. By the way... I have several mostly incomplete ficlets for my one shot collection. Would you like me to publish those in the mean time?**


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

 **AN: And here it is. Chapter 48. And it only took me 6 days to finish it...**

 **But you don't care about that, you care about knowing what happens next, so enjoy :).**

* * *

 **(Yasogami High. September 15th. After School)**

The school had just ended, and most students have left the school. Except for those who still had club activities... well, ones that rain doesn't impede that is.

Anyway, the gang was gathered in the second year classroom to discuss the issue of yesterday.

"So... about the Midnight Channel last night," Chie started the conversation.

At that, Yukiko looked at Viljam hesitantly, "...Are you sure it was Naoto-kun, Nousku-kun."

The said Finnish shrugged with an unsure look, " I'm not sure... Like I said before, Naoto probably isn't the only one wearing a cap."

Yu couldn't help chuckling internally at the Finnish saying what the silver haired boy had thought last night. "That's true, Viljam. But given the pattern we had followed until Mitsuo, it's very likely that you're right," Yu then said.

At that moment Yosuke decided to pipe up, "I talked to Teddie, and he said no one was on the other side."

"Well, yeah," Rise responded, "The killer's been caught."

"Yeah, we know," Viljam said tiredly, not needing a reminder.

However, out of all of them, it looked like Kanji wasn't interested. Which soon enough, earned everyone's attention. "...Huh? Wassup," Kanji asked, looking confused at the stares.

"Come on, get with the program," Yosuke exclaimed in annoyance, "You saw the TV last night, right?"

"So? 'S got nothing to do with us," Kanji said dismissively, earning shocked looks from others. "The killer's behind bars, and the shit Naoto said didn't make sense either. You guys're overreacting," the resident punk continued.

"Which stuff," Yu asked, not quite understanding what Kanji meant. Or he had an inkling, but he was still wondering.

The question unfortunately, made the bleach haired first year stumble a little, " It's just... I mean... I don't know."

"You're still hung up on that stuff," Yosuke asked with disbelief.

"That's- that ain't it!" Kanji panicked a bit.

"It's okay, we get it," Yosuke teased, "Just don't go overboard."

"You asshole! I said that's not it," Kanji shouted with his fist raised. "Tch... I got stuff to do. I'm outta here," Kanji then huffed before almost stomping out.

And by now Yu had figured out exactly what was meant. "Yosuke, did you have to say that," Yu asked, feeling a little sorry for Kanji.

"Come on Yu. He's a big man, he can take it," Yosuke said with an amused grin.

An amusement that wasn't shared by Chie... or anyone else for that matter. "Seriously, Hanamura. He doesn't think it's funny, so stop bringing it up," the previously mentioned carnivorous girl said.

As Yosuke sighed a little, Viljam looked between everyone uncertainly, "...Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, but why did Kanji get angry?"

This earned the Finnish boy several odd looks. Followed by Yukiko laughing at him. "*ahhah* You're so funny *ahhahahaa*," the said girl managed to say through her laughter, causing her guest brother to slump in embarrassment.

"It's nothing important," Chie said consolingly, "Just Hanamura being an idiot." This of course earned a highly annoyed look from the said idiot.

"Ai? Okei," Viljam said as if he was told the most obvious thing in the world.

Yu shook his head in amusement at the scenario. As fun as seeing Yosuke put in his place is occasionally, he decided to save his friend from further embarrassment, "Anyway. Do you guys think that maybe Kanji's right and we're all overreacting?" At this question, all humor died.

"Well... I seriously hope we are," Rise said first, not liking the idea of Mitsuo escaping somehow, "I mean... if another person gets... No I shouldn't think that. I'll just worry myself for nothing." Rise's sentiment was shared by everyone else. For all they know they might be worrying over nothing.

"...What worries me, is that Naoto-kun hasn't come to school today either," Yu then brought up in worry. It's possible that Naoto simply asked a leave of some kind for whatever reason. Perhaps he got a new case he's focusing on right now. Or maybe he's just skipping school... Yeah... that last one doesn't sound likely. "Hopefully it's not because of anything serious," the silver haired boy added, hoping to ease the growing worry he inflicted on accident.

Yukiko looked thoughtful, before the light bulb went off at something she remembers the detective saying, "Didn't he say that he had family matters the other day? Maybe it has something to do with that."

"Maybe you're right, Amagi-san. Maybe you're right," Yu acknowledged.

"The forecast did say that the rain would last through the night, then we'll see," Viljam said, which earned a nod from everyone else.

 **(Dojima household. September 15th. Evening)**

The clock has just struck midnight and through all his waiting, Yu was hoping that Kanji was right and he was overreacting at seeing the Midnight Channel yesterday. No such luck.

When the TV started on it's own, it showed clearly what looked like some kind of laboratory. Or other such facility. And then Naoto walked on the screen. But in addition to the attire they had seen him in yesterday, he was wearing an over-sized lab coat. The sleeves were much longer than Naoto's own arms, making the scene quite childish.

"Good evening! I am Naoto Shirogane, the detective prince," Naoto introduced himself with grandeur that Yu hadn't seen. "Welcome to the experiment of the century: The Genome Project." the silver haired boy had a bad feeling about that phrase. "I will be the experimentor and the experimentee both, in this forbidden yet wonderful body alteration process," the high school detective said. The camera switched angles and Naoto followed it, "You shall witness my departure into a new world. The moment of a new birth.". Then the camera zoomed away from him as he spread his arms, "And I will share this glorious moment with all of you. Stay tuned." With those final words, the screen turned off again.

"Shit... How did this happen," Yu exclaimed. Looks like Naoto's suspicions were right. Any further thought was interrupted by his phone ringing. Yu picked the phone to see that it was Kanji... Not exactly surprising. Though he wasn't looking forward to it.

" _Senpai! Did ya see that!?_ " And there's why. " _Didn't the screen become clear when the person is inside the TV!?_ "

"Yes. That's what we've deduced so far," Yu replied to the panicking punk.

" _The hell's up with that!? I thought we caught the killer! So how the hell can Naoto be inside the TV!_ "

"Kanji! Calm down!" Yu shouted into the phone. Judging by the lack of response, it worked. "Look, I'm just as surprised as you are, but screaming like that isn't going to help anyone. Least of all Naoto-kun," Yu said in a much calmer voice.

 _"...Yeah... Sorry Senpai_ ," Kanji apologized, " _I just don't get how this could happen._ "

Yu sighed at that. "I wish I knew. But it seems like whatever Naoto-kun thought was wrong, must have something to do with it," the silver haired boy said. At least, that was the only explanation he could think of on the fly.

" _Darn it!... Well I guess there's no use whining about it. Let's discuss this tomorrow, alright."_

"Yeah... See you tomorrow," Yu said, before they cut the call. " _What did we miss,_ " Yu couldn't help but think. Even as he prepared for bed, Yu's thoughts were going a hundred miles per second. " _Naoto-kun, what were you onto,_ " the silver haired boy thought before drifting to sleep, somehow.

 **(Junes. September 16th. After School)**

As much as the gang was worried about Naoto, they felt it would be better to adress this issue at their Secret Headquarters. Already... Teddie had checked the other side, and sure enough, someone's there.

"How is this possible," Chie griped, "Did Mitsuo escape somehow?"

"Surely we would've heard something if that was the case," Viljam argued, "I mean, if a dangerous killer got loose, the police would warn the people right?" The Finnish looked at everyone else, hoping for an answer, because he had no idea how the local law enforcement works.

"Viljam has a point," Yu agreed, "But that's not the issue right now."

"Yeah... The issue is. Why did Naoto-kun get kidnapped," Yosuke said in mild distress, probably thinking he could finally put this case behind him. "It's the same as before," The Junes boy griped.

"...Same as before," Yukiko muttered. Then she perked up, "Isn't that what Naoto-kun said!? You all remember how he came to the same conclusion that everyone was shown on TV before disappearing."

"Yeah, what's that-," Yosuke trailed off as he understood where this was going, "Wait! Are you saying he used himself as a bait?"

That made Yu's eyes widen. "The questions he asked from us! He must've tried to confirm our involvement," The silver haired boy exclaimed.

" He either succeeded in that, or is just putting a lot of faith in us," Viljam said, not liking this at all.

"Well, he did leave clues right," Chie said just a little unsurely.

At that moment, Kanji slammed the table, "The hell is up with that!? Why didn't he just tell us!"

"He knew we would stop him," Yosuke said, sliding his hand down his own face, "And he left us clues so we could save him."

"Kanji gritted his teeth as he let that information sink in, "...Dammit!"

"But what about that other guy, Mitsuo," Chie then pointed out, "Didn't he kill King Moron?"

"Yes, but that's all he did," Yu said, earning wide eyes and confused looks. "Think about it. How many times did the 'show on TV' pattern stick," Yu said.

Viljam looked thoughtful, "Four times with us, six if we count the first two."

"And all of a sudden, the killer 'changed' his methods," Yu said

"We know Mitsuo killed Morooka by hitting him on the head on this side," Yosuke added in, before realization dawned on him, "Wait a sec! Are you saying that the killer didn't change their method, but it was done by someone else?"

"Exactly. I realized it this morning. Of course, aside from the murder method, Morooka had to have been killed _before_ the fog set in. And up until then, the killer has dutifully waited for the foggy day before moving onto next target," Yu explained

"In other words," Rise chimed in, " Whoever kidnapped Naoto-kun is the real killer."

That statement raised a question from Chie, "Wait a sec! Didn't Mitsuo claim to be the one behind the murders. Why would he take the blame for someone else's crime?"

Before anyone could answer, they heard the distinct sound of a palm impacting a face. The gang turned their heads to the source, which was Viljam face palming. "Because he wanted attention," Viljam said sadly, "How desperate does someone need to be to go that far." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"...Dude, do you have personal experience," Yosuke asked, feeling a bit worried. It would explain why Viljam has sympathized with Mitsuo.

"Not like that," Viljam said a little more defensively than he wanted to. Then the Finnish took a breath, "Look, that's not the issue. Anyway, now that I think about it, Mitsuo said he went after the 'third one'. Since counting from the first murder, the next target would be Yukiko and I. Wouldn't he have said-"

*SLAM* Everyone was startled by Kanji slamming the table again and standing up. "To hell with someone that's behind bars," Kanji practically roared, "If we don't get off our asses, that stupid Naoto's gonna die! We gotta find him!"

No one needed further encouragement, so they just nodded firmly, before discussing their next order of business.

 **(Inaba. September 16th. Few hours later)**

"Again," Yu sighed as another person he talked to didn't know anything significant about Naoto. Earlier, the gang checked if Rise could locate the high school detective. Unfortunately, the auburn haired girl could only sense Naoto being in the TV world, but not the direction he was in. So now they were once again searching for clues.

The silver haired boy was getting desperate. Which manifested in a form of being tempted to ask Dojima or Adachi. Sadly Yu knew the problems that would come from asking the detective that he calls his uncle, and he still felt a little bad for practically blackmailing Adachi last time.

Then it hit him..., "Maybe I don't have to ask _them_ specifically." Any police officer should do. Besides if they ask, he could just pretend to be Naoto's fan or friend. The latter wasn't even an outright lie, even if friend is a strong word at this point. Well, regardless, better go find a police officer.

 **(Roughly the same time)**

VIljam and Yukiko had been around the shopping district asking people questions. Or to be more precise, Yukiko asked, and Viljam stood in the background.

"You really should learn to approach people," Yukiko told Viljam, knowing that he had a... problem approaching other people, especially strangers. It was kind of funny when Yukiko's mother finally started to offer him work that involved dealing with customers. The poor boy looked terrified at the idea.

"...Sorry."

Yukiko resisted a laugh at how ashamed of himself he sounded. "You'll have to learn sometime," the red clad girl said supportively.

"I know, but... It's just... I don't feel comfortable intruding," Viljam said as he looked down in embarrassment.

The red clad girl shook her head at Viljam's worries. It was nice that he doesn't want to be a bother. But in this case, "We need to find out about Naoto-kun. If you don't talk to anyone, how would you do it."

The Finnish boy gave his host sister an unimpressed look, "...I hate you."

Instead of getting offended, Yukiko laughed at the dead pan remark. After all, that was as good as Viljam saying, "You win". It was moments like these that made Yukiko actually wish that the Finnish boy is actually her long lost twin... or something along those lines. But that was impossible, for more than one reason. Plus that line of thought always made her wonder if she had ever become friends with Chie, if he was born her brother instead.

"Hey, you two." Speak of the devil.

"Aa! Chie-san," Viljam greeted the approaching girl.

"Any luck on your side?"

Yukiko let out a small sigh before responding, "No. It seems like no one knows about Naoto-kun, other than him being the Detective Prince."

"That's not much of a surprise. Considering how celebrities of any kind are regarded," Viljam pointed out. A sad fact, but a fact none the less.

This news of course made Chie slump a little, "Seriously... *sigh* Well, we'll just have to keep at it, I guess."

"Minkäs sille mahtaa **(What can you do about it)** ," Viljam said, less than enthusiastically, "Honestly, I think I just want Naoto saved, so I can tell him not to play with his life."

"Isn't that a little harsh? Saying he played with his life, I mean," Chie asked, not sure how to take Viljam's words.

"Let's see... He made himself a target, allowed himself to be kidnapped, with not even a guarantee that he would be saved. What would you call it," Viljam said in clear disapproval, "And I wouldn't even be surprised if Kanji punches him."

That got both girls out of their slump with a start. "Punch him!?" Came out of Chie.

"Why would Kanji-kun do that!?" Yukiko followed up.

"You two saw how he reacted to all of this," Viljam pointed out like it was obvious, "I can see why he would, though. After all, as Kanji said, Naoto did something very stupid."

"...You do have a point," Chie said, remembering how she felt about Naoto's stunt, "But I think punching would be too much."

"Yeah," Yukiko said with an awkward smile, "I wouldn't want Kanji-kun to get arrested for punching Naoto-kun's head off." That comment, of course, earned a concerned look from Chie. While Viljam actually laughed, because Yukiko sounded like she believed it would happen.

"*kihhih* I don't think Naoto's that frail," Viljam said, still snickering, "Or that Kanji would be that strong."

That got a giggle out of Yukiko,"Yeah... You're right."

During this conversation, Chie was once again wondering how much of a bad influence Viljam is on Yukiko... Unfortunately, the sad truth is, that Yukiko always had this kind of side to her, but she rarely shows it. And of course, Chie was well aware of that. "Uhh... you guys wanna grab a bite," Chie then asked in an effort to stop this line of conversation.

"I'm not feeling hungry right now," Viljam said, earning a mildly disappointed look from Chie.

Yukiko looked between Chie and Viljam, figuring out what was happening. Which caused her to elbow her guest brother.

"AU! Mitä **(What)**?" Was the annoyed response from the said guest brother.

"You're stupid," Yukiko said in annoyance of Viljam's obliviousness to Chie's feelings.

"It's okay, Yukiko. Perhaps another time," Chie said in mild depression as she turned to walk away.

"No, Chie! I'll go with you," Yukiko said moving next to her best friend. Then, as they walked, Yukiko gave a brief glare at a very confused and distressed Viljam.

"...Miksi hän suuttui **(Why did she get angry)** ," Viljam muttered, utterly lost. It looks like Viljam was right to refute Yosuke's claims about him being a woman expert all those times.

 **(Few hours later)**

Yu felt like he succeeded... At least partially, he managed to find a police officer willing to tell what he knew about Naoto. It sounded like the officer didn't like a "little brat" telling them how to do their jobs. But that's irrelevant right now. What's relevant is that Naoto sounded obsessed about this case, which would explain why Naoto didn't seem to accept the case to be closed like the police were.

" _Then again, we too thought the case was closed, until now._ " Honestly, when Yu realized the possibility of Mitsuo not being their culprit, he felt stupid for not thinking it sooner. Still... that left a question, if Mitsuo wasn't the real killer... how did he come across the TV world?

Well, that question can wait. For now, Yu would check if the information he had gathered was enough.

 **(TV World. Few minutes later)**

"I'm sorry Senpai," Rise said after a long scan, "It's not enough. I can point his general direction, but... not accurately enough."

"It's still progress," Yu said in an attempt to cheer Rise.

"Can't we just go with the general direction," Kanji asked impatiently.

Viljam let out a sigh, "Kanji, you remember that aside from this place and wherever a person ends up, there's nothing but fog. We could be going around in circles without precise navigation." Indeed, even with their glasses the area between the places is practically made of fog. If they wandered around aimlessly, they might get lost forever. Or... at least until Rise, and previously Teddie, guide them back to the lobby.

"Which would mean, that it could still take days or even weeks before we find the place," Yosuke said in disappointment.

"We need more clues," Chie said in resignation. Her and Yukiko's plan to grab a bite was interrupted by Yu calling everyone.

"I'm sorry, I just... don't have enough information," Rise apologized.

"Don't be sorry Rise-chan," Teddie said cheerfully, "We just need at least one more hint, before we can tell where Naoto is.". This earned a grateful smile from Rise. "Want me to give you a massage?" And now the smile left the girl.

"Don't harrass her, Ted," Chie scolded.

Yosuke had a devious idea, "But if Rise-chan wants a massage, she should ask Viljam."

"Häh!?"

This exchange earned a confused look from everyone who didn't witness Viljam's highly skilled hands. And rang alarm bells in those who did.

"Hanamura, shut it," Chie hissed at Yosuke who had a devious smirk at Viljam's embarrassed look.

The said Finnish's attention was quickly diverted by an annoyed looking Yukiko, "Nousku-kun, why didn't you tell me you could massage?"

"...You never asked," Viljam said nervously, his host sister's previous anger still fresh in his mind.

"...You're going to prove it later," Yukiko said, earning wide eyes from Viljam, "I've felt a little stiff for the last few days, and you're going to fix it. Won't you...'brother'."

That last one earned a surprised look from everyone, especially Viljam. "I...Alright, if there's nothing else to do today," Viljam said in resignation, directing the last part to Yu.

The silver haired boy in question got the message. "Without more info, we can't do anything except find more. So let's try again tomorrow."

Everyone agreed to that, besides it was getting late soon.

 **(Dojima Household. September 15th. Evening)**

"Rise-chan. It's not your fault, the information just wasn't enough," Yu said to the phone sympathetically. Just as Yu was prepared for sleep, Rise had called to apologize about not being able to pinpoint Naoto's location.

" _...Well yeah, but I can't help but feel like I could've done more if I had tried harder,_ " Rise responded in slight dismay.

"And I could've probably gotten more information to help you, but I didn't. All we can do is try again tomorrow," Yu pointed out.

" _...I guess you're right, Senpai... By the way... are you alright,_ " Rise then asked out of no-where.

This made Yu raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

" _...It's just... I could be imagining it, but you seemed a little more... anxious than when we were after Mitsuo,_ " Rise said, causing Yu to sigh discreetly.

"You're just imagining it. But I appreciate the concern," the silver haired boy responded, before adopting a slightly mischievous smile, "Anyway, I think we should go to sleep now. After all, I don't want you to fall asleep in class because of me." The truth is, it wasn't that late yet, but it was still a valid point.

Rise responded with a small laugh from her end," _Yeah, you're right. Good night, Senpai_."

"Good night." With that, the two ended the call. " _I need to be careful around her from now on,_ " Yu thought with a frown. Rise's concerns were very much real. It's not that he was anxious to get this over with... Or maybe that's a factor... Anyway, it's more about what kind of shadow they would be facing this time. The fact that the Naoto in the TV spoke about "Genome Project", sounds like genetics being involved with it... That raises some scary thoughts. What worries him more though, is what Viljam's hyper active imagination might cook up from this, assuming the Finnish has knowledge of such things.

 **(Chie's house. Roughly the same time.)**

"...So... how did it get resolved," Chie asked in worry. Earlier, the fact that Viljam understood Mitsuo's motive for taking the blame kept nagging her. So she gathered her courage to ask Viljam about it few minutes ago. The green clad girl had to pull the "I'm your girlfriend"-card on him despite being highly embarrassed about it. While Viljam called it unfair, he talked regardless. Turns out he was bullied when he was in third grade for a whole year, before he finally told anyone about it.

But what did that have to do with Mitsuo? Simple, in Viljam's mind, Mitsuo wanted to cry "Notice me!". Just like Viljam wanted to cry "Help me!", but he never could. " _...It never really did... I think she just got tired of it,_ " Viljam said sounding a little down.

That made Chie's eyes widen a little. "What!? She!? You mean you were bullied by a girl," Chie asked in disbelief. That part Viljam didn't mention until now.

" _What's your point?_ " The amount of venom in that question made Chie flinch.

"...Sorry, it's just... I've never heard of guys being bullied by girls," Chie explained nervously. Not exactly true, Chie _has_ heard occasionally about things like that, but... hearing it from Viljam just made the whole concept feel more... real.

" _...Anyone who says girls can't hurt guys is an idiot,_ " Viljam said sounding... disappointed?

"...Sorry," Chie said feeling really bad for making him bring it up. And for some reason she felt that the disappointment was directed at her.

" _It's fine... I don't like talking about it... and I don't want it to bring me down. Besides, it was years ago._ " Chie could hear the smile in Viljam's voice... if that makes sense.

"That's great," Chie said in relief, before deciding to change the subject, "Did Yukiko make you give her a massage?"

" _Jep,_ " Viljam said, popping the p, " _She even threatened to make me give her massages daily afterwards. I... I don't think my hands can take that._ "

Chie did not like the pained noises he was making at the latter part of his words, "Oh... Umm... is that why you don't want to be a professional?"

" _That, and the fact that I would have to give massages to strangers on a daily basis,_ " Viljam said in a very serious tone.

Okay, that made a lot of sense to Chie, especially if he would have to do that to unclothe-. And now she had a mental image of Viljam giving her a professional massage. " _Dammit!_ " Chie thought while blushing furiously.

" _What?_ "

" _Did I say that out loud!?_ " Chie screamed, this time being sure it was only in her head. "Uhhh... Gottagogoodnight!" And Chie hung up before putting her phone on the nightstand, and burying her face in her pillow. Unfortunately, that only made the little fantasy she was having that much more clearer in her mind. Viljam pressing on her unclothed back expertly. Then the image shifted to a foot massage, with Viljam looking at her adoringly. " _I've spent too much time with Hanamura,_ " Chie thought, because that made _a lot_ more sense than her starting to develop these fantasies on her own... Yup, definitely does.

 **(With Viljam)**

Viljam was already in his futon, ready to sleep when Chie called him. Now, though, he was staring at his phone in confusion. "Mitä tapahtui **(What happened)**?" Viljam honestly missed the last part what Chie said, although he was pretty sure it included 'good night'. Deciding to shrug it off, Viljam put the phone down and turned to his side. All the while, feeling the soreness in his hands. Seriously, he was pretty sure his hands cramped at one point. Oh well, at least Yukiko hugged him for his efforts in the end, which made him feel a lot better. After all, hugs always help.

Still, at least Chie didn't think less of him after telling about the most horrible school year of his life. Although he did leave one tiny detail out of it. But it doesn't matter anymore, what matters is that he will pull his own weight when they save Naoto. Though it wouldn't surprise him, if Kanji pulled everyone's weight with his level of motivation.

Viljam turned a little in his bed to get one last look at his phone. " _Öitä rakas... Joo en ole valmis sanomaan noin_ **(Good night love... Yeah I'm not ready to say something like that)** _,_ " Viljam thought feeling very grateful that no one could hear his thoughts.

* * *

 **AN: Just a little bit of foreshadowing about things that could happen within Naoto's dungeon, or outside of it.**

 **In case none of you realize. Viljam's so called _"expertize_ " on women stems from trial and error with his sisters, meaning that he only knows the most obvious things to avoid doing around girls. Well... obvious for him anyway. But understanding more... subtle things are still beyond him. That includes Yukiko not liking Viljam letting Chie down, if only a little.**

 **Anyway, I've decided. I'm going to take a break from writing at least until next month, so don't expect a chapter this month. Or even next month... Unless I magically regain my motivation faster. Besides, I got FF XV and Horizon(bought on Black Friday) to finish. Not to mention I have yet to buy Xenoblade 2... Which I'm still wondering why I haven't yet.**

 **Anyway, thank you for your support. And I'll see you guys next year :)**


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